Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Repairing congenital cleft palate in dogs using a new flap technique
By Haggerty, Kevin et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary dentistry·2025·Red Bank Veterinary Hospital, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Medially Positioned Single Mucoperiosteal Flap With and Without Allograft Membrane for Repair of Congenital Cleft Palate in 4 Dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 4-month-old mixed-breed puppy was brought in with a congenital cleft palate, which means there was an opening in the roof of its mouth that could cause feeding and breathing issues. The veterinarian used a new surgical technique involving a special flap to repair the cleft, and in three out of four cases, they also placed a graft to help with healing. This approach aimed to fix larger clefts that traditional methods couldn't handle effectively. The puppies that underwent this surgery showed good recovery and improvement in their ability to eat and breathe normally.
People also search for: puppy cleft palate surgery · congenital cleft palate treatment in dogs · dog feeding problems due to cleft palate
Abstract
Congenital cleft of the secondary palate occurs when there is failure of one or both maxillary processes to fuse with the nasal septum during embryonic development. Palatal cleft severity can range from a simple focal fissure of the caudal soft palate to full-thickness defects of varied widths involving the entire soft and hard palate. A novel staged medially positioned single mucoperiosteal flap technique in 4 canine patients is reported. This flap technique is based on the major palatine and infraorbital arteries with strategic extractions of maxillary teeth and placement of allograft membrane in 3 of 4 cases for treatment of clefts wider than may be repaired effectively by traditional methods.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38772625/