The effects of pharyngeal flap surgery on laternal pharyngeal wall motion: a videoradiographic evaluation.

Twenty patients undergoing pharyngeal flap surgery to correct velopharyngeal incompetence were studied by speech videofluoroscopy pre- and postoperatively to determine the effects of the surgical procedure on lateral pharyngeal wall motion. Within the limits of clinical judgment and for purposes of surgical planning, the motion was not altered. The implications of this are discussed.