Pharyngoplasty is the general term used to refer to surgery that is sometimes required to treat hypernasal speech, either after cleft palate repair or unrelated to clefts of the palate.
At UF, several operations are used for treating hypernasality (velopharyngeal insufficiency). Patients are evaluated by members of the UF Craniofacial Center, who develop a treatment plan for the child. The procedure lasts about two hours, and most patients who require this kind of surgery will be in the hospital two days after the procedure. The post-operative considerations and care are much the same as for repair of the cleft palate.