摘要
Background The upper airway morphology in children varies with age and body position.This study aimed to analyze the impact of lateral positioning on the upper airway of sedated children under fve.Methods This retrospective study included pediatric patients who underwent MRI in both the supine and lateral positions at Children’s Hospital,Zhejiang University School of Medicine.Upper airway morphology was reconstructed using 3D Slicer software.Python was employed to estimate cross-sectional areas via pixel analysis.The narrowest cross-sectional area,minimal transverse and anteroposterior diameters,airway length,and airway volume were measured and stratifed by age for subgroup analysis.Results In sedated children under 5 years old and when compared to the supine position,lateral positioning increased minimal transverse diameter by 18.70%(P=0.001),narrowest cross-sectional area by 49.21%(P<0.001),anteroposterior diameter by 25.54%(P<0.001),airway volume by 65.64%(P<0.001),and airway length by 11.93%(P<0.001).In all subgroups,lateral positioning signifcantly increased the narrowest cross-sectional area,airway length,and airway volume.However,minimal anteroposterior diameter in the 1-to 3-year age group and minimal transverse diameter in the 3-to 5-year age group tended to increase in the lateral position but did not reach statistical signifcance.Conclusions Lateral position signifcantly enlarges the upper airway in sedated children under fve.These fndings support using lateral position to enhance airway patency in younger patients.
基金
supported by the Key Research and Development Program of Zhejiang(2022C03163 to X.F.)
the National Natural Science Foundation of China(82372184 to H.L.and 82302425 to H.Y.).
