Surgical closure of labial and alveolar cleft defects with a modified Millard technique: A prospective study of ten dogs.

A modified Millard technique for canine lip/alveolar cleft repair yields good-to-excellent outcomes with low complication rates.

This prospective study describes a modified Millard technique adapted from human medicine for surgical repair of labial and alveolar cleft defects in dogs, evaluating outcomes in 10 client-owned puppies. The cohort included 4 males and 6 females presenting with either unilateral (n=6; 2 right-sided, 4 left-sided) or bilateral (n=4) lip/alveolar clefts, resulting in 14 total cleft repairs. Four dogs also had concurrent complete secondary palate clefts. The three-stage surgical protocol comprised: (1) alveolar cleft and labial vestibulum repair, (2) cheilorhinoplasty, and (3) palatal cleft repair when indicated. No intraoperative complications were encountered. Postoperative complications were minor and included three cases of partial cheilorhinoplasty suture line dehiscence, all resolving by second intention within 14 days, and one case of oronasal communication on the hard palate requiring minor revision surgery. At the 3-month follow-up evaluation, all dogs achieved successful clinical and functional outcomes. Cosmetic outcomes, assessed using postoperative CT measurements, were rated good to excellent across the cohort. This study provides veterinary surgeons with a detailed, reproducible step-by-step approach to a historically challenging congenital condition, demonstrating that techniques refined in human craniofacial surgery can be effectively translated to canine patients with a low overall complication rate and satisfactory mid-term results.

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