Abstract: Objective　To explore the correlation analysis of cleft palate width and postoperative velopharyngeal function. Methods　The data of 44 patients with cleft palate from 2012 to 2020 were collected, and the Furlow method was used to repair the cleft palate. According to the different cleft width of cleft palate before surgery, patients were divided into three groups: narrow group, medium-width group and wide group. The velopharyngeal function of patients in each group was tested and analyzed, including subjective voice judgment and nasopharyngeal fiberoscopy. Results　The results of subjective voice judgment showed that the rate of postoperative velopharyngeal insufficiency in the three groups was 20%, while the results of nasopharyngeal fiberscopy showed 18%. There was no statistical difference between the two detection results (P>0.05). The results showed that the velopharyngeal insufficiency rate in narrow group was significantly lower than that in medium-width group and wide group (P<0.05), and there was no significant difference between medium-width group and wide group (P>0.05). Pearson correlation analysis showed that cleft palate width was positively correlated with postoperative speech intelligibility score and nasopharyngeal fiberoscopy score (r=0.570, 0.560, P<0.05), that is, the wider the cleft palate, the higher the postoperative velopharyngeal insufficiency rate. Conclusion　The velopharyngeal closure function is different after surgery by Furlow's method, which is significantly related to the preoperative cleft palate width.

Key words: Width of cleft palate, 　Furlow method, 　Velopharyngeal function