Five successful cleft surgeries done at GPHC

May 22, 2024 News

Two babies before and after cleft surgery

Kaieteur News – The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) successfully completed five cleft surgeries on Sunday. Three addressed cleft palate repairs, while the remaining two focused on cleft lip repairs for patients aged two to 16.

Cleft lips and palates are birth defects that happen when a baby’s lip or mouth doesn’t form properly before birth, leaving a split or gap in the lip and/or palate.

The successful cleft repairs were made possible through the GPHC’s plastic surgery department, in collaboration with Smile Train, an international non-profit organization.

The GPHC has been partnering with Smile Train since 2019 and in 2023 earned a certification as a Smile Train Centre.

According to the press release issued by GPHC, charity organization aims to “empower local hospitals and doctors by providing essential resource, knowledge and skills for sustainable cleft care”

Kaieteur News understands that the surgery to correct cleft lips is performed on patients from three months old and cleft palates surgeries are conducted on patients who are nine months and older providing that they are in good health.

To date, the department has completed surgical corrections for 76 patients at the hospital. Accessing these interventions is easy and free of cost, the hospital said in its statement.

Additionally, GPHC also offers nutritional and psychological support to all patients and their families for post-operative care at home.

In January, nine successful cleft surgeries were done at the hospital.

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Cleft surgeries, GPHC, patients, Smile Train, train

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