Hospital care of children with a cleft in England

Using Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data, this study examined hospital admissions in the first two years of life among children with a cleft lip and/or palate in England.  10,892 children with a cleft were included. In the first two years, children without additional anomalies (8,482) had on average 3.2 admissions and 13.2 days in hospital, while children with additional anomalies (2,410) had on average 6.7 admissions and 51.4 days in hospital. The burden of hospital care also varied according to cleft type, with cleft lip associated with the fewest admissions and days in hospital, and bilateral cleft lip and palate associated with the highest number of admissions and days in hospital. Cleft-specific hospital care did not differ between children with and without additional anomalies.

Full reference and link: K J Fitzsimons, L P Copley, S A Deacon, J H van der Meulen. Hospital care of children with a cleft in England. Archives of Disease in Childhood. 2013;98:970-974.