Abstract

Background : Velopharyngeal Insufficiency (VPI) leads to hyper-nasal speech in children, often associated with cleft palate. Surgical corrections such as pharyngeal flap surgery aim to enhance speech and quality of life (QoL). The VPI effect on life outcome (VELO) questionnaire evaluates VPI's impact on QoL. This study examines post-surgery QoL changes, VELO validation, and the association between VELO results and speech intelligibility to better understand VPI surgery outcomes.

Methodology: This prospective cross-sectional study was conducted at Fauji Foundation Hospital Rawalpindi from July 2022 to January 2024. Using the VELO instrument, we assessed children and young adults undergoing pharyngeal flap surgery for VPI. The outcomes focused on comparing pre and postoperative VELO scores and perceptual speech measurement, alongside correlating VELO scores with speech intelligibility.

Results: Fifteen patients (6 males, 9 females) with an average age of 12.2 (±3.8) years underwent pharyngeal flap surgery for VPI. There was a significant decrease in preoperative speech intelligibility postoperatively (P < .000). Post-surgery VELO scores showed improvement, with caregiver impact remaining unchanged. A strong correlation was observed between speech intelligibility and VELO scores, emphasizing the surgery's positive influence on VPI patients’ speech.

Conclusion: The pharyngeal flap surgery notably improves the specific QOL for VPI.

Key words: Velopharyngeal insufficiency, VELO, pharyngeal flap