Abstract: PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical outcome of ice-cold compression in infantile palatoplasty under general anesthesia for oral swelling and pain relief. METHODS: Eighty children with congenital cleft palate who underwent palatoplasty under general anesthesia were divided into 2 groups: experimental group and control group. Ice-cold compression was used in the experimental group before extubation, while 40 cases without ice-cold application was included as control. The patients were observed for the degree of swelling, pain and food intake after operation. SPSS13.0 software package was used for Student’s test and Chi-square test. RESULTS: Significant difference of swelling pain of wound and food intake between the 2 groups was found after operation. CONCLUSIONS: Relief of swelling and pain using ice-cold compression can be obtained for infantile palatoplasty during the process of infantile palatoplasty.

Key words: General anesthesia, Palatoplasty, Ice-cold compression