Linear analysis of the nasal septum in patients treated with surgically assisted rapid maxillary expansion

Surgically assisted rapid maxillary expansion is a widely used surgical procedure for resolving transverse maxillary occlusal changes in patients with bone maturity. However, few studies about the postoperative morphologic alterations in the nasal cavity in its inferior portion and the nasal septum positioning exist.

The linear nasal septum measurements of 26 adult patients treated with surgically assisted rapid maxillary expansion from 2009 to 2013 were assessed through a retrospective analysis of cone-beam computed tomographies, in Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine files, through the Dolphin Imaging program (Dolphin Imaging and Management Solutions, Chatsworth, Calif), aimed to identify significant changes during 3 time periods of the treatment: preoperative, immediately after the palatal expansion device locking (immediate postoperative), and 6-months postoperative (late postoperative). The analyses were performed in the inferior third of the nasal septum, from 4 equidistant points in anteroposterior position and height, using fixed cranial references for lateral measures of displacement.

No significant difference was found between preoperative, immediate postoperative, and late postoperative measurements in the 4 fixed nasal septum measurements, applying the analysis of variance test with a significance level of 5%. Comparing the surgical times alone, we found no statistically significant difference between the right and left sides applying the Student t test, which also showed symmetry in the nasal septum.

The measurements of the nasal septum did not change in the different surgical times throughout their inferior extension, and they remained symmetrical throughout patients' follow-up period.