Objective:

Describe the perception of pain and behavior displayed by Colombian children with and without cleft lip and palate during the surface electromyography test performed on perioral and masticatory muscles.

Methods:

Prior approval by the ethics committee (act-009-2013p) and an informed consent and assent signature were obtained.

The exam were performed on 69 children between 5 and 15 years; 45 with cleft lip and palate (23 with unilateral cleft, 22 with bilateral cleft) and 24 children without cleft. The Wong Baker (pain) and Frankl (behavior) scales were used.

Results:

At the beginning of the exam, 66 children (95.66 %) displayed type 4 behavior and 3 children (4.35 %) displayed type 3 behavior. At the end of the procedure, 100 % of the children displayed type 4 behavior.

When using the Wong Baker scale, the perception of the pain showed that 62 patients (89.86 %) felt no pain and 7 patients (10.14 %) felt just a little pain.

Conclusions:

Children do not show significant changes in their behavior - or pain and discomfort during the procedure of surface electromyography.