Superior Orbicularis Oris Muscle Activity in Children Surgically Treated for Bilateral Complete Cleft Lip and Palate.

Liliana Szyszka-Sommerfeld,Sławomir Wilczyński,Mariusz Lipski,Krzysztof Woźniak,Monika Elżbieta Machoy

doi:10.3390/jcm10081720

Abstract

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the electromyographic activity of the superior orbicularis oris muscle both in children surgically treated for bilateral complete cleft lip and palate (BCCLP) as well as in subjects without BCCLP. The study comprised 77 children aged 6.6 to 12.5 years. All the patients with clefts had previously undergone lip and palate surgery. The upper lip electromyographic (EMG) assessments were made with a DAB-Bluetooth device (Zebris Medical GmbH, Germany) at rest, while swallowing saliva, protruding lips and compressing lips. EMG measurements were also made when the subjects produced phonemes /p/, /b/, and /m/ with the vowel /a/. The Mann-Whitney U test was applied to statistically analyze the EMG values. Significantly higher median upper lip EMG activity under working conditions such as swallowing saliva, lip compression, and production of the phoneme /p/ with the vowel /a/ was observed in patients with BCCLP compared to those without a cleft. The results of the study showed that the upper lip muscle activity increases in children with BCCLP when swallowing saliva, compressing lips and during some speech movement tasks. This may be important in the aspect of the effect of surgical lip repair on the craniofacial growth.

Highlights

Clefts of the lip, alveolar process and/or palate are the most common congenital dentofacial abnormalities, which significantly affect the functions of the masticatory organ and disrupt the aesthetics of the face [1,2,3]
Posterior crossbites were diagnosed in 70% of the subjects with Bilateral complete cleft lip and palate (BCCLP), while 65% of the children with cleft lip and palate (CLP) were diagnosed with lateral open bites
The data obtained in our study is consistent with the results reported by Szyszka-Sommerfeld et al, who found that the EMG activity of the upper orbicularis oris muscle while swallowing saliva and compressing the lips was significantly higher in the cleft group than in the patients with no CLP

Summary

Introduction

Alveolar process and/or palate are the most common congenital dentofacial abnormalities, which significantly affect the functions of the masticatory organ and disrupt the aesthetics of the face [1,2,3]. The treatment outcome is affected by such factors as the extent of the morphological and functional changes involved, the type of cleft as well as the effectiveness of the primary surgery performed, including the surgeon’s skills, the choice of the surgical method, and the time and sequence of the surgical repair [6,7,8,9]. Surgical treatment of BCCLP is the most difficult procedure among the common clefts of the lip and palate [17]

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