General Medical Information

Control of Nasal Resistance

Thomas V. Mccaffrey

The baseline resistance of the nasal airway can be remarkably constant when measured over a period of days or weeks. Most healthy adults without symptoms of nasal disease have a nasal resistance ranging from 0.15 to 0.3 Pa/cm3 per second (8,9). However, nasal resistance changes with posture, disease, physiologic state, and psychologic factors. Airway resistance can increase or decrease depending on the physiologic demands for gas exchange. The major sites for regulation of airway resistance are the dilator nares muscles of the external nose and the venous sinusoids of the nasal turbinates.