OBJECTIVE

A reduced transversal dimension of the maxilla leads to narrower nasal cavities, which may reduce airflow to the lungs. Maxillary expansion widens nasal floor. However, there is huge controversy regarding whether this increase does actually lead to increased airflow. In this systematic review and meta-analysis we aim to resolve this question by evaluating studies that have undertaken rhinomanometric measurements.

REVIEW METHODS

Pubmed (Medline), the Cochrane Library, EMBASE and Trip Database were checked by two authors. Two authors extracted the data. Main outcome was expressed as the difference between resistance before and after treatment and the 95% confidence interval.

RESULTS

30 studies were selected for full text reading. A total of 12 studies (301 patients) met the inclusion criteria. All selected articles found reduced resistance after palatal expansion. The data pooled in the meta-analysis reveals a statistically significant difference of 0.12 Pa s/cm³ mean reduction after palatal expansion (CI 95% 0.06, 0.18) for nine uncontrolled studies. Regarding nasal airflow, the pooled data show a statistically significant difference of 29.9 cm³/s increase after palatal expansion (CI 95% 9.17, 50.64).

CONCLUSION

According to the available evidence, palatal expansion in pediatric patients decreases nasal resistance and increases nasal flow.

中文翻译：

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小儿上颌骨扩张对鼻呼吸的作用。系统的审查和荟萃分析。

目的

上颌的横向尺寸减小导致鼻腔变窄，这可能会减少流向肺的气流。上颌骨扩张加宽了鼻底。但是，关于这种增加是否确实导致气流增加存在巨大争议。在本系统的综述和荟萃分析中，我们旨在通过评估进行了鼻压测量的研究来解决该问题。

审查方法

Pubmed（Medline），Cochrane库，EMBASE和Trip数据库由两位作者检查。两位作者提取了数据。主要结局表示为治疗前后抵抗力与95％置信区间之间的差异。

结果

选择了30个研究进行全文阅读。共有12项研究（301例患者）符合纳入标准。所有选定的物品均发现pa扩张后阻力降低。荟萃分析中收集的数据显示，在九项非对照研究中，pa扩展后平均降低幅度为统计学意义上的显着差异0.12 Pa s / cm ³（CI 95％0.06，0.18）。关于鼻气流，合并的数据显示pa扩张后，统计学上的显着差异增加了29.9 cm ³ / s（CI 95％9.17，50.64）。

结论

根据现有证据，小儿患者的pa扩张可降低鼻阻力，并增加鼻流量。