Gender Differences in the Care of Cleft Lip and Palate Patients at Sohag Craniofacial Center

Gender plays an important role in health care with direct and indirect effect in provided medical and surgical care; the aim of the study was to investigate if there is any difference in the surgical treatment of patients with cleft lip and palate between males and females in our community. This is a retrospective study of 864 patients with variable ages, varieties and sex with total number of 1674 surgical procedures, Each procedure categorized as primary surgery (primary lip and palatal repair) or secondary surgery (aesthetic lip revision and palatal functional revision as palatal fistula or VPI ). Cases were categorized according to extent to UCLP, BCLP, UCL, BCL, CSP, CSHP. Total number of procedures for each diagnosis and the age of first surgical procedure is then analyzed and compared according to gender of patients, the result of our study show that females received more secondary surgeries than men. But this difference in secondary surgeries is statistically significant only in BCLP and UCLP cases, which underwent statistically significant more number of lip and nose revisions with no statistically significant difference in secondary palatal re repairs, also no statistically significant differences in the number of primary surgeries or the age of first operation. This study give an alert about the care given with more secondary lip and nose revisions done in females meaning that females indications of surgery may be over estimated or the males indications may be neglected, Many interpretations, explanations for this results and further studies also needed.