VPI Clinic
Learn more about how the Velopharyngeal Insufficiency / Incompetence (VPI) Clinic staff at Cincinnati Children’s treats VPI.
How is VPI treated?
The treatment of a resonance disorder or velopharyngeal dysfunction depends on the type and cause of the problem. Treatment may include speech therapy or surgical intervention, such as a tonsillectomy, pharyngeal flap, sphincter pharyngoplasty, Furlow Z plasty or posterior pharyngeal wall augmentation. In some cases, prosthetic devices may also be used on a temporary or permanent basis.
Although surgery is often needed to correct the structure, the surgery does not change the way the child has already learned to talk. Therefore, postoperative speech therapy is usually required to help the child learn how to use the corrected structure and correctly produce sounds.
If therapy is necessary, the speech pathologist on our team will advise the child’s current therapist on effective methods of treatment. Contrary to previous beliefs, blowing, sucking and oral-motor exercises are not effective in improving velopharyngeal closure or abnormal resonance.
What can parents do to help?
Parents should be active members of their child’s treatment team. They can help in the following ways:
- Follow-up on recommendations from the surgeon and speech-language pathologist.
- If surgery has been performed, the child may need to learn how to use her new structure. This is done through speech therapy.
- It is important that the parent and child work together between therapy sessions on activities suggested by the speech pathologist.
- Several short practice sessions each day are the most effective in helping the child at home.
Additional Resources
The Cleft Palate Foundation provides complimentary booklets and fact sheets for families and individuals with a history of cleft palate or velopharyngeal dysfunction.
The following book provides more in-depth information about clefts, velopharyngeal dysfunction and team care:
Kummer AW. (2008). Cleft Palate and Craniofacial Anomalies: Effects on Speech and Resonance, 2nd Edition. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Cengage Learning
