Comparison of Oxygen Saturation during Impression Taking before and after Presurgical Orthopedic Therapy in Babies with Cleft Lip and Palate

Aim The objective of this study was to (1) evaluate the oxygen saturation (SpO2) levels during intraoral and extraoral impression taking and (2) compare the SpO2 levels during impression taking before and after presurgical orthopedic therapy (POT) of infants with cleft lip and palate (CLP). Patients and Methods In our study, 31 babies with CLP before (mean age 7.6 ± 3.2 days) and after (mean age 108.3 ± 24.2 days) POT were monitored, and SpO2 levels were measured under operating conditions before any intervention (T1), after oxygenation (T2), during taking intraoral (T3), and extraoral (T4) impressions with oxygen support and immediately before the discharge from the operating room (T5). Results In both groups, statistically significant differences in SpO2 measurements at T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5 stages were found (P < .01). For the pre-POT measurements, increases in SpO2 levels from T1 to T2 and T4 to T5 (P < .05) and decreases from T2 to T3 and T3 to T4 (P < .01) were noted. Similarly, SpO2 levels decreased significantly from the intraoral (T3) to extraoral (T4) post-POT impression periods (P < .01). Comparisons of pre- and post-POT measurements revealed that the SpO2 level of each time period was higher at the post-POT impression taking except for stages T2 and T5 (P < .01). Conclusion The SpO2 values were low at the onset of POT in infants with CLP before any intervention. Oxygen saturation levels may decrease particularly during extraoral impression taking in infants with CLP despite the supplemental oxygen. SpO2 measurements were higher during post-POT intraoral and extraoral impression taking when compared with pre-POT measurements.