HARE-LIP
Categories:
Deformities
This is due to the fact that the flesh or bony parts do not
quite properly unite. It may form a single or double hare-lip, or
complicated, or it may involve the soft parts, or the hard (bony) and soft
parts at the same time. It is always to one or the other side of the
middle line. It is double hair-lip in about one-tenth of the cases, and
when double it is frequently complicated with cleft palate.
Symptoms. Upo
examination you notice that there is a split in the lip,
either partly through the lip or entirely, so that the bone is exposed; or
the slit goes not only through the lip, but also through the bone.
Operation. This is necessary, and it is quite successful. The best time
is between the third and sixth month, especially when it is a simple case.
In some cases of double hair-lip, when the child cannot take the breast
and has to be fed, early operation should be done if the child is strong.
The operation for a simple hare-lip is very easily and quickly done. For
complicated cases it takes longer, and of course is not without some
danger. It should be done, for a child is a pitiable sight with this
deformity. When grown up it is a source of great annoyance and shame.