Abstract
BackgroundCleft palate craniofacial teams have evolved across the globe in the last 20 years in compliance with the interdisciplinary concept of management of oro-facial clefts. An interdisciplinary care allows a coordinated treatment protocol for the patient. The objective of this study was to evaluate oro-facial cleft care in Nigeria with particular emphasis on the compliance of the practitioners to the team approach concept.MethodsA snapshot survey was conducted among specialists that attended the Pan African Congress on Cleft Lip and Palate, at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Nigeria in February 2007.ResultSixty three respondents successfully completed and returned the questionnaire for analysis. Mean age of respondents was 43.5 years and the range was 38–62 years.Male to female ratio was 2.7:1. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons and Plastic Surgeons constituted the majority of respondents (38.1% and 22.2%) respectively. Only 47.6% (n = 30) of the specialists belonged to cleft teams. Majority of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons and Plastic Surgeons belonged to cleft teams (70% and 63.3% respectively) while speech pathologists and orthodontists were less represented (20% and 36.7% respectively) in teams.ConclusionFindings from this study suggests that interdisciplinary care for the cleft patient does not appear to have been fully embraced in Nigeria. This may be a result of several reasons ranging from non availability of the requisite specialists, the relatively young age of cleft care practice in this part of the world to the poor state of infrastructure.
Highlights
Cleft palate craniofacial teams have evolved across the globe in the last 20 years in compliance with the interdisciplinary concept of management of oro-facial clefts
Findings from this study suggests that interdisciplinary care for the cleft patient does not appear to have been fully embraced in Nigeria
This may be a result of several reasons ranging from non availability of the requisite specialists, the relatively young age of cleft care practice in this part of the world to the poor state of infrastructure
Summary
Cleft palate craniofacial teams have evolved across the globe in the last 20 years in compliance with the interdisciplinary concept of management of oro-facial clefts. The specialties involved in orofacial cleft management essentially should include the Orthodontist, Plastic Surgeon, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon (OMFS), Otorhinolaryngologist and Speech Pathologist [3,4,5,6]. Others such as Audiologist, Paediatric Surgeon and Genetic Counselor or Psychologist have been mentioned in the literature but their services are not universal [3]. An interdisciplinary care allows for the best possible treatment outcome with each member of the team involved in a coordinated treatment protocol for the cleft patient [6]
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