Alterations in nasal respiration and nasal airway size following superior repositioning of the maxilla

Abstract

Twenty patients who underwent superior repositioning of the maxilla via Le Fort I down fracture had their respiratory mode and nasal cross-sectional area determined prior to and 6 months following surgery. Inductive plethysmography and nasal air flow techniques were used in the determination of these parameters. Prior to surgery, five patients were nasal breathers, five were predominantly nasal breathers, six were oral-nasal breathers, and four were predominantly oral breathers. Nine patients had inadequate nasal airways. Six months following surgery, 14 patients were nasal breathers and six were predominantly nasal breathers. Sixteen patients had adequate nasal airways, three had borderline nasal airways and one had an inadequate nasal airway postsurgically. These findings suggest that superior repositioning of the maxilla by Le Fort I down fracture does not adversely affect nasal respiration. Nasal function actually improved in 17 of the 20 subjects studied.