A protocol for safe anasthesia for cleft lip and palate surgery in developing countries

A project to perform surgical correction of cleft lips and palates was carried out in Uganda in 1998. Twenty centres were visited and 336 cleft lips and 41 cleft palates were repaired. The age of the patients ranged from 2 weeks to 60 years. Many of the centres visited were remote and lacked even the most basic equipment. Patients were anasthetised using ketamine, ether or halothane according to a protocol that we developed. There was no anasthetic mortality and only one case of significant morbidity. We report our experience and discuss recommendations regarding the provision of anasthesia in remote circumstances based on our outcome. An additional benefit of the project was that we provided training to local medical personnel in anasthesia and surgery for cleft lips and palates.