title: Incidence of palatal fistula formation after primary palatoplasty in northern Finland.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this retrospective study was to determine the incidence of palatal fistulas after primary cleft palate repair.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 136 patients who were treated at the Oulu University Hospital cleft lip and palate center between 1998 and 2011. All patients were treated by the same surgeons with 1-stage palatoplasty closing the hard and soft palate concurrently.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall frequency of postoperative fistula was 9.6% of patients. Patients with cleft lip and palate (20.0%) were more likely to develop postoperative palatal fistulas than patients with cleft palate (6.6%). Surgical technique and cleft severity were not significant factors for the development of palatal fistulas.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The majority of patients undergoing primary palatal repair do not develop palatal fistulas.
authors.affiliation: PhD candidate, Institute of Dentistry, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.
authors.forename: Riitta H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Lithovius
authors.affiliation: Director of Cleft Lip and Palate Program, Oulu University Hospital, Institute of Dentistry, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.
authors.forename: Leena P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Ylikontiola
authors.affiliation: Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Oulu; Consultant, Oulu University Hospital; Professor of Tissue Engineering, BioMediTech, Institute of Biosciences and Medical Technology, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland. Electronic address: George.sandor@uta.fi.
authors.forename: George K B
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Sándor
mesh_terms: D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D016155:Oral Fistula / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019647:Oral Surgical Procedures; D021362:Palate, Hard / Q000473:pathology*; D010160:Palate, Soft / Q000473:pathology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors