Safety and Efficacy Concerns of Autologous Fat Grafting for Velopharyngeal Insufficiency

Autologous fat grafting of the velopharynx has been well described for the treatment of velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI), with most studies purporting it as a technique with low morbidity useful in the treatment of mild VPI. Prompted by 3 cases of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) following fat grafting of the velopharynx, we undertook a review of the outcomes of this procedure at our unit.

Retrospective case series.

All patients who underwent autologous fat grafting for VPI at the Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne.

Preoperative nasendoscopy findings, perceptual speech assessment results, and rates of revisional surgery and complications.

Twenty-eight patients were included in the study. Three patients (11%) developed severe OSA requiring removal of the grafted fat. In a subanalysis of cleft patients, there was a reported improvement in hypernasality in 63% though only 25% had complete resolution of their hypernasality. Patients who had an improvement in speech were more likely to have a velopharyngeal gap of less than 0.5 cm² on preoperative nasendoscopy. All 3 patients who developed OSA had syndromes associated with hypotonia.

This study raises serious concerns over the safety and efficacy of fat grafting for VPI. Overall, there was a relatively high complication rate with generally poor speech results in our series of patients. Stringent criteria should be used to select candidates for fat grafting, namely, a velopharyngeal gap less than 0.5 cm² and the absence of a syndrome associated with hypotonia.