Palatal fistulas after primary repair of clefts of the secondary palate

Our aim was to assess whether severity of cleft, age at the time of repair, and the operating surgeon's experience contributed to the development of fistulas in patients with clefts of the secondary palate. We studied 814 children born between 1960 and 1999 with clefts of the secondary palate who had had their primary operation at the Department of Plastic Surgery, Rikshospitalet University Hospital, Oslo, Norway. Data were collected retrospectively from the archives of the Oslo Cleft Team. Palatal fistulas developed in 36 patients (4%), among whom 17 patients required correction (2% of the total). The incidence of fistulas was not related to sex. Patients with clefts of the hard and soft palate developed fistulas more often than patients with clefts of the soft palate only (8% compared with 1%, p