An evaluation of factors influencing the length of hospital stay after cleft lip and palate repair: A prospective interventional study

Introduction: Length of hospital stay (LOS) following orofacial cleft repair contributes to the overall cost of management and may influence patient satisfaction. Objective: To determine factors that influence postoperative LOS. Patients and Methods: This prospective interventional study included patients with cleft lip, alveolus and/or palate who were managed at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital from October 2022 to March 2024. Demographic and perioperative data were collected. For this study, LOS of not more than 2 days postoperatively was adopted as short LOS. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine factors influencing postoperative LOS. Results: A total of 145 patients were included in this study; seventy-nine (54.5%) were females. Their age ranged from 3 months to 44 years, with a median (interquartile range) age of 2 (1–9) years. Forty-five (31.0%) patients had cleft lip repair, 75 (51.7%) had cleft palate repair, 7 (4.8%) had alveolar bone graft, and 18 (12.4%) had combined surgeries. The mean surgery time was 105.9 ± 35.4 min. About half (51.0%) of the patients had a postoperative LOS of not more than 2 days. Only one (0.7%) patient had intraoperative complications, while seven (4.8%) had postoperative complications, including wound dehiscence, bleeding, and respiratory complications. Increased postoperative complication was significantly associated with increased postoperative LOS ( P < 0.05). There was no significant relationship between patients’ age, type of cleft, surgery done, surgery time, intraoperative complications, postoperative medications administered, and postoperative LOS ( P > 0.05 for all regression analyses). Conclusion: Postoperative LOS after cleft surgeries is influenced by postoperative complications.