Minimal standards for reporting the results of surgery on patients with cleft lip, cleft palate, or both: a proposal.

Abstract

This article proposes a set of minimal standards for reporting the results of surgery on patients with cleft lip with or without cleft palate and cleft palate only. These standards do not represent what is technically possible, only what is considered minimally acceptable for presentation in a public forum. They have a clinical focus and should be attainable by any well-constituted cleft palate team. As the title indicates, this document is a proposal. It is hoped that the readership will respond to the recommendations presented so that some set of standards can be adopted in the near future. Once adopted, these standards should be reviewed and updated periodically.