Abnormal Acoustic Features Following Pharyngeal Flap Surgery in Patients Aged Six Years and Older

In our study, older velopharyngeal insufficiency (posterior velopharyngeal insufficiency) patients were defined as those older than 6 years of age. This study aimed to evaluate the abnormal acoustic features of older velopharyngeal insufficiency patients before and after posterior pharyngeal flap surgery. A retrospective medical record review was conducted for patients aged 6 years and older, who underwent posterior pharyngeal flap surgery between November 2011 and March 2015. The audio records of patients were evaluated before and after surgery. Spectral analysis was conducted by the Computer Speech Lab (CSL)-4150B acoustic system with the following input data: The vowel /i/, unaspirated plosive /b/, aspirated plosives /p/, aspirated fricatives /s/ and /x/, unaspirated affricates /j/ and /z/, and aspirated affricates /c/ and /q/. The patients were followed up for 3 months. Speech outcome was evaluated by comparing the postoperatively phonetic data with preoperative data. Subjective and objective analyses showed significant differences in the sonogram, formant, and speech articulation before and after the posterior pharyngeal flap surgery. However, the sampled patients could not be considered to have a high speech articulation (<85%) as the normal value was above or equal to 96%. Our results showed that pharyngeal flap surgery could correct the speech function of older patients with posterior velopharyngeal insufficiency to some extent. Owing to the original errors in pronunciation patterns, pathological speech articulation still existed, and speech treatment is required in the future.