It is natural for a person suffering from severe sleep apnea to feel hopeless, but there is still some news to fall back on. There are plenty of sleep apnea surgery options to choose from.
Be that as it may, there is hardly any point in hiding the truth, which is that success rate of apnea surgeries is hardly higher than 65% often deteriorating over time. While a particular procedure might need 3 to 5 sittings, at times the doctor may decide to do a combination of several surgeries to provide maximum benefit to the patient.
The decision to take up surgery for treating the condition is taken after proper diagnosis. Incidentally, though common, this disorder tends to remain undiagnosed most of the time as well as misdiagnosed in a lot of instances. This happens when some symptoms of the disorder confuse clinicians and patients. For example excessive daytime sleepiness, a key feature could appear to be hypersomnia and so on.
This is the reason why doctors insist on lab-based tests like polysomnography and Multiple Sleep Latency Test or MSLT (test to measure daytime sleepiness). With these tests, doctors can know the exact type of sleep disorder as well as how serious the condition is – which forms the basis of selecting the most suitable therapy.
CPAP therapy along with weight loss and several lifestyle changes are recommended for managing mild to moderate conditions. However when the diagnosis reveals that the condition is severe, surgery is the most preferred treatment option.
There are plenty of surgical options for treating the condition. The choice of surgery depends on the precise location of obstruction in the airway. While obstruction could be anywhere in the upper respiratory tract, the most common sites are within the nose, throat, and base of the tongue.
Here are some common surgeries that essentially aim to clear the air passage to allow the patient to enjoy obstruction-free breathing:
-Nasal surgeries: These surgeries manage nasal blockage caused by three common anatomical problems within the nasal cavity, including deviated septum, turbinates and nasal valve. Repairing nasal valve, repositioning septal deviation and reducing size of enlarged turbinates can be accomplished by septoplasty, a minimally invasive option. Somnoplasty is one of the newer surgeries and the only option that uses radiofrequency ablation technology to reduce and tighten excess tissues in the tonsils, nasal passage, base of tongue and soft palate.
-UPPP, or uvulopalatopharyngoplasty: When removing extra tissues from soft palate and pharynx is the goal, this uppp procedure is the solution opted for. It is one of the most common and perhaps one of the oldest too.
-Soft palate implants or the Pillar Procedure: This process involves implanting three polyester rods in the soft palate in order to stiffen certain relevant tissues of the area for keeping the airways open during sleep. Minimally invasive, this procedure is effective in treating mild conditions.
-A relatively simple surgery is tracheostomy that involves making an incision in the windpipe through the neck for air to enter directly into the lungs. These days this procedure is performed only for patients for who the condition is life-threatening.
-Some other sleep apnea surgery options include genioglossus (tongue advancement), hyoid bone advancement, maxillary or maxillomandibular advancement (MMA), etc. All these surgeries treat severe conditions as well as patients who find CPAP therapy incompatible.
Marc MacDonald is an independent sleep researcher on idiopathic hypersomnia, narcolepsy, and sleep apnea. To learn more about this article’s main topic, please visit his Surgery for Sleep Apnea website.
