Unilateral Orticochea Pharyngoplasty for Unilateral Velopharyngeal Dysfunction: Long-Term Outcomes Data.

A unilateral deficit in velopharyngeal closure during speech production is an unusual presentation of velopharyngeal dysfunction (VPD) and few solutions have been described for this problem. This report details the long-term outcomes using this technique. We performed a retrospective chart review of all the patients who underwent a unilateral Orticochea pharyngoplasty for VPD. The authors identified 10 patients treated with 11 unilateral pharyngoplasty at a single tertiary care institutional setting. The mean age at repair was 8.6 years. The mean length of follow-up was 7.6 years. All the patients demonstrated improvement in velopharyngeal closure and speech resonance with 4 showing complete resolution of VPD. There were no revisions required or complications. One patient, after 10.7 years, required a unilateral procedure on the contralateral side which resulted in complete resolution of VPD postoperatively.

Treatment of Stress Velopharyngeal Incompetence With Injection of Hyaluronic Acid.

Stress velopharyngeal incompetence (VPI) is a challenging clinical entity that can be managed by a variety of surgical and nonsurgical approaches. We describe the case of a clarinetist who presented with nasal air escape while playing. She had successful improvement in her symptoms after targeted injection of a hyaluronic acid compound to her posterior pharyngeal wall. Our objective is to describe the safety and efficacy of this technique, to emphasize the multidisciplinary management of patients with stress VPI, and to review the importance of both nasopharyngoscopy and videofluoroscopy in their evaluation.

Postoperative management following sphincter pharyngoplasty.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate postoperative airway-associated outcomes following sphincter pharyngoplasty. STUDY DESIGN: Case series with chart review. SETTING: Academic tertiary care medical center. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Postoperative management of sphincter pharyngoplasty (SP) conventionally includes overnight observation to monitor for upper airway obstruction. To evaluate for postoperative airway-related outcomes, 36 patients who underwent SP between April 2003 and January 2009 were evaluated retrospectively. RESULTS: Mean patient age was 8.1 (SD 4.3) years. Mean follow-up was 6.5 (SD 10.7) months. Cleft palate (36.1%), velo-cardio-facial syndrome (22.2%), and post-adenoidectomy (16.7%) were the most common causes of velopharyngeal insufficiency. All patients underwent overnight observation postoperatively. Mean hospital stay was 1.2 (SD 0.5) days. Five patients remained inpatient two or three days owing to fever (2 patients), bleeding ear after concurrent otoplasty (1 patient), minimal oropharyngeal bleeding with spontaneous resolution (1 patient), and medication allergy (1 patient). No patient had a documented apneic event or desaturation below 95 percent. Although no desaturations were documented, four patients received supplemental oxygen: three for less than two hours, and one for 12 hours. All patients had adequate oral intake and pain control on oral medications prior to discharge; nine patients required one to three doses of intravenous narcotic medication for pain on postoperative day zero. CONCLUSION: Upper airway obstruction requiring overnight observation following SP is uncommon. In otherwise healthy patients, performing SP in an outpatient setting, given appropriate recovery room evaluation for airway concerns, oral intake, and pain control, should be considered.