Objective: The purpose of this study is to assess cleft rhinoplasty terminology across phases of growth.
Design/setting: A systematic review was performed on cleft rhinoplasty publications over 20 years.
Interventions: Studies were categorized by age at surgical intervention: infant (<1 year); immature (1 to 14 years); mature (>15 years).
Main outcome measures: Collected data included terminology used and surgical techniques.
Results: The 288 studies included demonstrated a wide range of terminology. In the infant group, 51/54 studies used the term "primary." In the immature group, 7/18 studies used the term "primary," 3/18 used "secondary." In the mature group, 2/33 studies used the term "primary," 16/33 used "secondary," 2/33 used "definitive," 5/33 used terms such as "mature," "adult," and "late," and 8/33 did not use terminology.
Surgical technique assessment demonstrated: cleft rhinoplasty at infancy used nostril rim or no nasal incision, immature rhinoplasty used closed and open rhinoplasty incisions; and mature rhinoplasty used a majority of open rhinoplasty. Infant and immature cleft rhinoplasty incorporated septal harvest or spur removal in <10% of cases, whereas these procedures were common in mature rhinoplasty. No studies in infants or immature patients used osteotomies or septal grafts, common techniques in mature rhinoplasty.
Conclusions: Current terminology for cleft rhinoplasty is varied and inconsistently applied across stages of facial development. However, cleft rhinoplasty performed at infancy, childhood, and facial maturity are surgically distinct procedures. The authors recommend the terminology "infant," "immature," and "mature" cleft rhinoplasty to accurately describe this procedure within the context of skeletal growth.