BACKGROUND: Cleft treatment is frequently performed in Indonesia, mostly in charity missions, but without a postoperative protocol it is difficult to establish the risks and complications of cleft treatment. The present study was designed to give an overview of current cleft lip and palate treatment strategies in Indonesia and to assess the complication rates during and after surgery. METHODS: This prospective study evaluated anesthetic, intraoperative surgical, and short-term postoperative complications in patients undergoing primary, secondary, or corrective surgery for cleft lip and palate deformities. The population consisted of 98 non-syndromic cleft patients. The main anesthetic complication that occurred during general anesthesia was high blood pressure, whereas the main intraoperative surgical complication was excessive bleeding and the main early postoperative complication was extremely poor wound hygiene. RESULTS: In this study, there were no cases of perioperative or postoperative mortality. However, in 23 (23.4%) of the 98 operations performed, at least one perioperative complication related to anesthesia occurred. The intraoperative and early postoperative complications following cleft lip and/or palate were assessed. There was a significant difference in the complication rate between procedure types (χ²=0.02; P<0.05). However, no relationship was found between perioperative complications related to anesthesia and the occurrence of postoperative complications (χ²=1.00; P>0.05). Nonetheless, a significant difference was found between procedure types regarding perioperative complications and the occurrence of postoperative complications (χ²=0.031; P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Further evaluation of these outcomes would help direct patient management toward decreasing the complication rate.

Background: The pathogenesis of orofacial cleft (OFC) is multifactorial, involving both genetic and non-genetic factors, the latter of which play a key role in the development of these anomalies. This paper addresses the incidence of OFC in Indonesia, with a focus on identifying and examining the distribution of contributory factors, including parental medical history, pregnancy history, and environmental influences. Methods: The study was conducted through the collection of primary data. An interdisciplinary research team from Indonesia administered a standardized questionnaire to parents who had children with OFC and who had provided informed consent. The case group comprised 133 children born with cleft lip and/or palate, and the control was 133 noncleft children born full-term. The risk factors associated with OFC anomalies were analyzed using the chi-square test and logistic regression. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 25. A p-value of 0.05 or less was considered to indicate statistical significance. Results: The study comprised 138 children, of whom 82 were boys (59.4%) and 56 were girls (40.6%). Among them, 45 patients (32.6%) presented with both cleft lip and cleft palate, 25 individuals (18.1%) had a cleft palate only, and 28 patients (20.3%) had a cleft lip only. OFC was found to be significantly associated with a maternal family history of congenital birth defects (p< 0.05), complications during the first trimester (p< 0.05), consumption of local fish (p< 0.05), caffeine intake (p< 0.05), prolonged medication use (p< 0.05), immunization history (p< 0.05), passive smoking (p< 0.05), and X-ray exposure during pregnancy (p< 0.05). Conclusion The findings indicate close relationships between the incidence of OFC and maternal medical history, prenatal factors, and environmental influences.