Abstract

BACKGROUND: Distraction osteogenesis maxillary expansion (DOME) is an emerging surgical concept for obstructive sleep apnea patients presenting with nasal obstruction, with a high-arched and narrow hard palate. We demonstrate the feasibility of DOME in the treatment of patients with persistent nasal obstruction after primary septoplasty.METHODS: A total of 32 consecutive patients with persistent nasal obstruction after septoplasty who underwent DOME were enrolled in this study. The efficacy of DOME in treating persistent nasal obstruction in septoplasty failure patients was evaluated by using the validated Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) scale. Pre- and postoperative computed tomography (CT) scans were performed to measure the change of nasal floor width after surgery.RESULTS: The NOSE score significantly improved from 13.62±4.74 to 5.15±3.50 (p<0.001) after DOME. The postoperative CT scan showed a significant increase of the nasal floor width from 22.4±4.21 to 28.06±4.52 (p<0.01). No patient experienced major complications, such as wound infection, oronasal fistula, sinusitis, loss of incisor teeth, and malunion.CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that DOME appears to improve persistent nasal obstruction after septoplasty in patients with narrow and high-arched hard palate. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

View details for DOI 10.1002/alr.22931

View details for PubMedID 34919340