Background and aim: After rapid maxillary expansion, there is evidence that nasal airflow resistance is reduced. In the developmental age, it is unclear how RME affects upper airway airflow characteristics. Therefore, the aim pf present study was to evaluate the effects of rapid maxillary expansion on upper airway airflow characteristics. Material and methods: The present systematic review and meta-analysis included three randomized clinical trials and sixteen cohort studies international databases, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase, from January 1, 2015 to May 10, 2025, using keywords aligned with the study objective. Data extracted included numbers of participants, mean age, gender, Midpalatal suture maturation stage, nasal septum deviation, Intervention, and upper airway assessment. For each study that included, the mean value of airway pressure, nasal cavity volume, nasopharyngeal volume, and oropharyngeal volume was calculated between before and after rapid maxillary expansion. The statistical analysis was performed with Stata/MP.v17 as fixed effect models. Results: A significant reduction of airway pressure was found after RME (MD = -152.25; 95%CI -154.59 Pa to -149.92 Pa; p<0.001). there was a significant increase in nasal cavity volume after RME compared before RME (MD = 1.88; 95%CI 1.82 to 1.95; p<0.001), mean differences of oropharyngeal volume was 0.87 (MD = 0.87; 95%CI 0.75 to 0.99; p<0.001), and mean differences of nasopharyngeal volume was 0.80 (MD = 0.80; 95%CI 0.73 to 0.88; p<0.001). Conclusions: In children of growing age, rapid maxillary expansion can be an effective method on upper airway airflow characteristics.
Shams et al. (Mon,) studied this question.