Objective: The objective of this study was to determine factors that may affect anesthesia and surgical complications, diffi-cult airway, and the need for intensive care unit (ICU) care in cleft lip and cleft palate (CLCP) surgeries.
Materials and Methods: The study was a retrospective review of the records of 617 patients who underwent CLCP surgery between 2015–2019.
Results: The number of anesthesia complications was higher in patients with difficult mask ventilation. Surgical complica-tions were more common in patients >1 year of age. Isolated cleft palate (CP) surgery; presence of a concomitant disease, syndrome, or micrognathia; age >1 year; and the CP subtype were associated with a higher rate of difficult intubation. Iso-lated cleft palate, concomitant disease, syndrome, micrognathia, difficult intubation, difficult mask ventilation, and anesthesia complications were associated with ICU admission.
Conclusion: The CP subtype was associated with a higher rate of difficult intubation and ICU hospitalization even in pa-tients who were nonsyndromic and/or >1 year of age. Therefore, special attention should be paid to the anesthesia and surgical management of these patients.