Polysomnographic evaluation of adult patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSAS) undergoing orthopedic maxillary expansion.

• Grant number: 23/18180-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2024
• End date: March 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Almiro José Machado Júnior
• Grantee: Rafael Faccioli Casagrande
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciência e Tecnologia (ICT). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de São José dos Campos. São José dos Campos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The options available for the treatment of OSAS include surgeries nasal, oropharyngeal, lingual, facial skeletal and cervical, isolated or in associations, with a wide spectrum of techniques and combinations. Despite cure rates achieved, skeletal-facial surgeries also find resistance in acceptance by patients. CPAP (Continuous positive airway) pressure) remains the first therapeutic option in many institutions. Adherence to the use of CPAP remains a barrier to be overcome and its effectiveness has been questioned on many fronts. Intraoral appliances also compete for a selective place in the vast range of therapeutic options but, like CPAP, they are not capable of curing OSAS. They act to maintain airway patency only while they are being used. A Maxillary expansion causes an increase in width as a beneficial side effect nasal cavity, which would reduce nasal resistance to air passage. Another hypothesis still unclear is that with the increase in the upper dental arch there is an increase of the mouth void and the tongue would have more space, occupying a more anterior, which would reduce the airway's collapsibility. Furthermore, it is assumed that When widening the jaw, there is tension in the muscles that connect to the palate, such as the palatoglossus and palatopharyngeus, with associated anterior displacement of these muscles, which may therefore reduce collapsibility of the upper airway during sleep. Therefore, the objective of this study is to evaluate the use of expansion orthopedic (non-surgical) treatment of the maxilla in adult patients with OSAS.