To study the regularity of the delayed wound healing after cleft palate repair.

From April 2017 to December 2019, a total of 150 patients with delayed wound healing after primary cleft palate repair were included in the Department of Cleft Lip and Palate Surgery, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University. The changing regularity and influencing factors of delayed wound healing within 6 months after cleft palate repair were analyzed.

When the sites of delayed wound healing occurred at the hard palate, the junction of hard and soft palate, and the soft palate, the final formation of palatal fistula accounted for 38.1%, 9.8% and 6.7%, respectively, of the total number of delayed wound healing cases at each site, and the differences were statistically significant (χ² = 52.962, P<0.001). When the wound areas of delayed wound healing were ≤0.5 cm², >0.5-≤1.0 cm², >1.0-≤1.5 cm² and >1.5 cm², the final formation of palatal fistula accounted for 5.6%, 14.8%, 35.8% and 44.9%, respectively, of the total cases of each wound area, and the differences were statistically significant (χ² = 28.068, P<0.001). There was no difference in other related factors such as age, gender and cleft palate type.

Delayed wound healing after primary cleft palate repair may be correlated to the sites and size of the wound.