Abstract: PURPOSE: To explore the effect of refined nursing model on postoperative rehabilitation and aesthetic outcomes in children undergoing correction of nasolabial deformity after bilateral cleft lip surgery. METHODS: A total of 86 children who received surgical correction for nasolabial deformity following bilateral cleft lip repair in the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University from January 2023 to January 2025 were enrolled and randomly divided into the control group and the experimental group, with 43 cases in each group. The control group was given routine nursing, while the experimental group received refined nursing combined with routine nursing. The incidence of postoperative complications, wound healing time and hospital stay were compared between the two groups. The Numerical Rating Scale (NRS), Face-Q Scale, Self-Rating Scale of Depressive Disorder in Children (DSRSC), Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED), and a self-designed nursing satisfaction questionnaire of the hospital were adopted to evaluate children's pain intensity, facial aesthetics, psychological status, and nursing satisfaction of their families. RESULTS: The total incidence of postoperative complications in the experimental group was 4.65%, which was significantly lower than 23.26% in the control group (P=0.013). The NRS scores of both groups decreased gradually over time (P<0.05); at 12, 24 and 48 hours after surgery, the NRS scores in the experimental group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the experimental group had shorter postoperative wound healing time and hospital stay (P<0.05). At 3 months postoperatively, the scores of oral recovery, nasal morphology and symmetry, labial morphology and symmetry, scar quality and color matching, as well as scar recovery in the Face-Q Scale of the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group (P<0.05). At 3 months after surgery, the DSRSC and SCARED scores of both groups declined (P<0.05), and the scores in the experimental group were markedly lower (P<0.05). The satisfaction scores of the experimental group in dimensions including facial aesthetic improvement, service attitude, hospitalization environment, professional skills and nursing efficacy were significantly higher than those of the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The refined nursing mode can effectively reduce the incidence of postoperative complications and postoperative pain, shorten the rehabilitation period, improve facial aesthetics and family nursing satisfaction, and optimize the psychological state of children undergoing nasolabial deformity correction after bilateral cleft lip surgery.

Key words: Refined nursing, Bilateral cleft lip, Nasolabial deformity correction, Postoperative rehabilitation, Aesthetic effect