Objective: Buccal myomucosal flaps (BMF) anatomically lengthen the palate in the treatment of velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI). We systematically reviewed the existing literature on speech outcome of BMF palatal lengthening.
Design: Three databases were used to identify studies of interest published in English. Studies that did not use standardized speech assessments were excluded. PRISMA checklist was followed, and the risk of bias in the included studies was assessed.
Setting: Long-term follow up of patients.
Patients: With history of cleft palate presenting with VPI.
Intervention: BMF palatal lengthening.
Main outcome measure: Random-effects model meta-analyses were performed for hypernasality, intelligibility, and nasal air emission score improvements, which were derived from reported preoperative and postoperative scores, and controlled for variability of scales and timing of postoperative assessment.
Results: From the initial 7115 articles, 13 were included in this review. Two of these had a significant patient overlap and a study with a smaller patient population was excluded. All 12 included articles met the National Institutes of Health Quality Assessment Tool criteria. Six retrospective studies evaluated 230 patients and six prospective studies evaluated 181 patients. The most common indications for BMF were large size of the velopharyngeal gap and prior surgery for VPI. Meta-analyses demonstrated effect sizes below zero, confirming the improvement of standardized assessment scores in patients with VPI after BMF palatal lengthening. Egger regressions revealed low risk of publication bias.
Conclusions: BMF palatal lengthening provides adequate treatment for VPI in patients with large velopharyngeal gap size and a history of prior unsuccessful surgery.
Keywords: buccal flap; cleft lip and palate; cleft palate; palatoplasty; soft palate; speech assessment; velopharyngeal dysfunction.