Comparison of AHI and ESS outcomes between patients with obstructive sleep apnea undergoing sleep surgery versus upper airway stimulation

Objective: To compare patients with moderate-severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) undergoing traditional single and multilevel sleep surgery to those undergoing upper airway stimulation (UAS). Study Design: Case control study comparing retrospective cohort of patients undergoing traditional sleep surgery to patients undergoing UAS enrolled in the ADHERE registry. Setting: 8 multinational academic medical centers. Subjects and Methods: 233 patients undergoing prior single or multilevel traditional sleep surgery and meeting study inclusion criteria were compared to 465 patients from the ADHERE registry who underwent UAS. We compared preoperative and postoperative demographic, quality of life, and polysomnographic data. We also evaluated treatment response rates. Results: The pre and postoperative apnea hypopnea index (AHI) was 33.5 and 15 in the traditional sleep surgery group and 32 and 10 in the UAS group. The postoperative AHI in the UAS group was significantly lower. The pre and postoperative Epworth sleepiness scores (ESS) were 12 and 6 in both the traditional sleep surgery and UAS groups. Subgroup analysis evaluated those patients undergoing single level palate and multilevel palate and tongue base traditional sleep surgeries. The UAS group had a significantly lower postoperive AHI than both traditional sleep surgery subgroups. The UAS group had a higher percentage of patients reaching surgical success, defined as a postoperative AHI <20 with a 50% reduction from preoperative severity. Conclusion: UAS offers significantly better control of AHI severity than traditional sleep surgery. Quality life improvements were similar between groups.

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Upper Airway Stimulation Therapy for Obstructive Sleep Apnea

10.1093/med/9780197521625.001.0001 ◽

2021 ◽

Keyword(s):

Obstructive Sleep Apnea ◽

Sleep Apnea ◽

Upper Airway ◽

Novel Therapy ◽

Upper Airway Stimulation ◽

Current State ◽

Obstructive Sleep ◽

Long Term Follow Up ◽

Physician Extenders ◽

Primary Care Practitioners

Upper Airway Stimulation Therapy for Obstructive Sleep Apnea provides the current state of knowledge regarding this novel therapy. It reviews the pathophysiologic basis of sleep apnea and the specific mechanism by which upper airway stimulation provides airway support in this disorder. It also provides practical insights into this therapy related to patient selection, clinical outcomes, surgical technique, long-term follow-up, and adverse events and offers recommendations for those aspiring to develop an upper airway stimulation program. It provides an overview of unique populations and circumstances that may extend the utility of the procedure, and that may provide challenges in management, as well as thoughts on the future of this technology. This textbook is intended for all practitioners who have interest or care for sleep disordered breathing, including sleep medicine physicians, pulmonologists, otolaryngologists, primary care practitioners, as well as physician extenders.

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