Correction of Lip Defect Caused by Noma

Abstract

This report presents a 20-year-old woman undergoing correction of an upper lip deformity secondary to noma. The noma infection was acquired at the age of 3 years, and the defect was left untreated until the age of 12 years, when the patient had an operation at a suburban clinic. She was dissatisfied with the result and came to the Department of Oral Surgery, Padjadjaran University in Indonesia 8 years later, where the correction was achieved in 3 stages. The first operation was performed to bring down the commissure of the lip and to restore normal philtral height. The second operation was performed to achieve the normal position of the lip commissure and to complete the restoration of lip length. Both operations were performed using general anaesthesia. The third operation was a small procedure to correct a minor defect of the lip angle using local anaesthesia.