Patients with sleep apnea have multiple episodes during which they stop breathing when they are sleeping. Obstructive sleep apnea is caused by partial airway blockage in the mouth, nose or throat. This made worse by sleeping, as the muscles that normally hold your throat open are relaxed during sleep. Weight gain, alcohol use, and upper respiratory infections can make symptoms worse.
Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea often do not know that they have the syndrome. Symptoms include snoring, fatigue, excessive daytime sleepiness, memory loss and personality changes. Severe sleep apnea, if left untreated can lead to heart problems, car accidents, and even death. A sleep study can confirm the presence of sleep apnea, and give information about its severity.
The initial treatment for obstructive sleep apnea is often a device called CPAP, or continuous positive airway pressure. CPAP blows air at continuous pressure into your lungs as you sleep at night, preventing your airway from collapsing and causing obstruction.
Unfortunately, many patients are unable to tolerate a CPAP machine. While weight loss can significantly reduce sleep apnea, this is often very difficult for people who are always tired.
For these patients, obstructive sleep apnea surgery may be an option. A full evaluation by your surgeon will help identify your anatomic sites of obstruction, and to determine whether you are a candidate. Surgery for sleep apnea often includes septoplasty and turbinectomy, to clear nasal obstruction.
Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty is a procedure which removes some of the soft tissue in the back of your throat including the tonsils, to allow for a larger breathing passage when you sleep. It is performed under general anesthesia. It is generally well tolerated, but does result in significant throat discomfort, similar to that of tonsillectomy.
Laser Assisted Uvuloplasty or LAUP is a procedure which removes the uvula and uses the laser to reduce the bulkiness of the tissue in the back of the throat. Compared to uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, it is less invasive and can often be performed under local anesthesia with IV sedation. While LAUP is very effective in treating snoring, it does not significantly improve sleep apnea and is often not covered by insurance.
Your sleep apnea surgery will be individualized and not all patients are candidates. You and your surgeon will make these decisions based on your preference, your comprehensive head and neck exam, and your sleep study results.