Aim of the study: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal airway changes following surgically assisted rapid palatal expansion (SARPE) using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT).
Subjects and Methods: The sample consisted of 13 female adult patients with an age range of (28-43 years old) with bilateral skeletal posterior crossbite. CBCT was performed preoperatively and after 6 months postoperatively. Surgically assisted rapid palatal expansion under general anesthesia was performed for all patients. Hyrax palatal expander was used until correction of the posterior crossbite was achieved. Landmarks from CBCT were used to measure the volumetric changes in the nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal airway dimensions as well as minimum cross sectional area after maxillary expansion.
Results: There was a statistically significant increase of all airway dimensions (nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal volumes as well as minimum cross-sectional area ) after surgically assisted rapid palatal expansion (SARPE).
Conclusion: Surgically assisted rapid palatal expansion (SARPE) resulted in a significant increase in the volume of the nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal airways as well as the minimum cross-sectional area of the oropharynx. Therefore this treatment modality can be beneficial to improve respiratory capacity in patients with transverse maxillary constriction and obstructive sleep apnea.