Treatment of Resonance Disorders and Velopharyngeal Insufficiency/Incompetence (VPI)
The Velopharyngeal Insufficiency/Incompetence (VPI) Clinic staff at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center explains how VPI is treated.
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 and/or surgical intervention, such as a tonsillectomy, pharyngeal flap, sphincter pharyngoplasy, or posterior pharyngeal wall implant. Prosthetic devices can also be used on a temporary or permanent basis in some cases.
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 produce sounds correctly.
If therapy is necessary, the speech pathologist on our team will advise the child’s current therapist on effective methods of treatment. Note: Contrary to previous beliefs, blowing, sucking and oral-motor exercises are not effective in improving velopharyngeal closure or the abnormal resonance.
What can parents do to help?
Parents should be active members of the 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 his or her new structure. This is done through speech therapy.
- It is important that the parent and child work together in 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 a variety of complimentary booklets and fact sheets for families and individuals with a history of cleft and/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.
For more information about the Velopharyngeal Insufficiency/Incompetence (VPI) Clinic at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, please contact Angela Davis, 513-636-0336.
