SARPE
Pronunciation: SAR-pee
Also written as: SARPE — Surgically Assisted Rapid Palatal Expansion
Surgically Assisted Rapid Palatal Expansion; a procedure combining a surgical osteotomy to release palatal resistance with an expansion appliance to widen the maxillary arch in adults whose sutures have fused.
Full Definition
SARPE is indicated when skeletal transverse maxillary deficiency cannot be corrected by conventional appliance-based expansion alone, typically in post-adolescent patients in whom the midpalatal and circummaxillary sutures have ossified. A surgeon releases the palatal and lateral nasal wall sutures, after which the patient activates a fixed palatal expander to gradually separate the bone segments. The technique avoids the need for a full Le Fort I osteotomy in cases where only transverse correction is required. Editors should expand the acronym at first use and note variant terms such as 'surgically-assisted RPE' (sometimes hyphenated) or 'SARME' (surgically assisted rapid maxillary expansion) used in some European literature.
Usage
Usage note: Expand on first use. The variant 'SARME' (surgically assisted rapid maxillary expansion) is equally acceptable; choose one and apply it consistently. Do not confuse with non-surgical RPE or with MARPE (miniscrew-assisted RPE).
In Context
- "SARPE was chosen over Le Fort I osteotomy because the patient's only skeletal discrepancy was in the transverse dimension." — Pre-surgical orthodontic treatment plan
- "The SARPE protocol required the patient to activate the expander by two quarter-turns per day for three weeks post-surgery." — Patient post-operative instruction leaflet