scholarly journals Rationalising requests for preoperative sleep studies and postoperative HDU beds: a quality improvement project in paediatric ENT patients undergoing elective surgery

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. e001378
Author(s):  
Simon Morris ◽  
Rhodri Jones ◽  
Paramesh Mankunda Puttasiddaiah ◽  
Michael Eales ◽  
Heikki Whittet

BackgroundSleep disordered breathing represents a spectrum of upper airway obstruction including snoring, increased respiratory effort and obstructive sleep apnoea. An increasing demand for paediatric preoperative sleep studies and postoperative high dependency unit (HDU) beds was having a significant impact on service delivery at this ear, nose and throat (ENT) unit.MethodsRetrospective and prospective review of all paediatric sleep study requests over a 30-month period in a single tertiary ENT department. Data were collected on indication for and result of sleep study, patient outcome, operative details and HDU bed occupancy. During the study period, a ‘Sleep Study’ proforma was introduced which incorporated the ‘I’m Sleepy Score’ (ISS) and ENT-UK national guidelines.ResultsRetrospective review included 198 sleep studies, of which 62% (n=118) showed no evidence of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). There was little consistency in patients’ sleep study results and need for monitoring on HDU following adenotonsillectomy. Prospective review following intervention included 60 patients, of which 62% (n=37) showed evidence of OSA. The mean ISS in this cohort was 4.7. Only those with moderate-to-severe OSA or with relevant risk factors underwent overnight HDU observation. The number of sleep study requests fell by >50%; from 11 per month to 5 per month. The total HDU bed occupancy was reduced by 50% following intervention (from n=18 to n=9).ConclusionThe use of the ISS and incorporation of ENTUK’s recommendations has reduced the number of negative sleep studies being requested and has rationalised the number of paediatric HDU bed requests being made. This has helped provide a prudent elective paediatric ENT service in this unit with corresponding cost benefits.

2018 ◽  
Vol 160 (5) ◽  
pp. 791-798 ◽  
Author(s):  
James M. Ruda ◽  
Linda Payne ◽  
Anne May ◽  
Mark Splaingard ◽  
Stephanie Lemle ◽  
...  

Objective We undertook this quality improvement project to improve communication of outpatient pediatric sleep study results to families in a consistent and timely manner. Methods Based on the Institute for Healthcare Improvement quality improvement methodology, multiple key drivers were identified, including standardizing documentation and communication for sleep study results among the otolaryngology department, sleep center, and families. Meaningful interventions included developing standard electronic medical record documentation and utilizing otolaryngology nurses and advanced practice nurses to assist with communication by sending the results from the sleep center to both the referring otolaryngology provider and the triage nurses. The primary outcome measure was the monthly proportion of sleep studies communicated by the otolaryngology department to families within 3 business days. Results Average monthly sleep study results communicated to families within 3 business days increased from 31% to 92.9% over the study period ( P < .0001). Sleep study results were personally communicated via telephone and voicemail in 60.88% and 34.0% of cases, respectively. Approximately 50.0% of families receiving voicemails later contacted our department for their children’s study results. Discussion Novel documentation strategies and involvement of our entire clinical team (physicians, nurses, and advanced practice nurses), allowed us to significantly improve the consistency and timeliness of our communication of outpatient sleep study results to families in a proactive manner. Implications for Practice With time-sensitive clinical test results, such as those from pediatric sleep studies, intra- and interdepartmental collaboration and standardization of the communication process and documentation may allow for more expedient care of children with suspected obstructive sleep apnea.


2018 ◽  
Vol 103 (10) ◽  
pp. 962-967 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine M Hill ◽  
Heather E Elphick ◽  
Michael Farquhar ◽  
Paul Gringras ◽  
Ruth M Pickering ◽  
...  

ObjectiveChildren with Down syndrome are at high risk of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and screening is recommended. Diagnosis of OSA should be confirmed with multichannel sleep studies. We aimed to determine whether home pulse oximetry (HPO) discriminates children at high risk of OSA, who need further diagnostic multichannel sleep studies.DesignCross-sectional prospective study in a training sample recruited through three UK centres. Validation sample used single-centre retrospective analysis of clinical data.PatientsChildren with Down syndrome aged 0.5–6 years.InterventionDiagnostic multichannel sleep study and HPO.Main outcome measuresSensitivity and specificity of HPO to predict moderate-to-severe OSA.Results161/202 children with Down syndrome met quality criteria for inclusion and 25 had OSA. In this training sample, the best HPO parameter predictors of OSA were the delta 12 s index >0.555 (sensitivity 92%, specificity 65%) and 3% oxyhaemoglobin (SpO2) desaturation index (3% ODI)>6.15 dips/hour (sensitivity 92%, specificity 63%). Combining variables (delta 12 s index, 3% ODI, mean and minimum SpO2) achieved sensitivity of 96% but reduced specificity to 52%. All predictors retained or improved sensitivity in a clinical validation sample of 50 children with variable loss of specificity, best overall was the delta 12 s index, a measure of baseline SpO2 variability (sensitivity 92%; specificity 63%).ConclusionsHPO screening could halve the number of children with Down syndrome needing multichannel sleep studies and reduce the burden on children, families and health services alike. This approach offers a practical universal screening approach for OSA in Down syndrome that is accessible to the non-specialist paediatrician.


2018 ◽  
Vol 104 (3) ◽  
pp. 275-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magnus von Lukowicz ◽  
Nina Herzog ◽  
Sebastian Ruthardt ◽  
Mirja Quante ◽  
Gabriele Iven ◽  
...  

BackgroundObstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is common in children with Down syndrome (DS), yet difficult to treat. As muscular hypotonia of the upper airway may cause OSA and is also common in DS, we tested whether intense myofunctional therapy improves OSA in children with DS.Patients and methodsForty-two children underwent cardiorespiratory sleep studies immediately before and after a 1-week intensive training camp consisting of three daily 45 min sessions of myofunctional exercises according to Padovan. Primary outcome was the mixed-obstructive-apnoea/hypopnoea index (MOAHI), secondary outcomes the ≤3% oxygen desaturation index (DI3), the ≤90% desaturation index (DI90) and the lowest pulse oximeter saturation (SpO2nadir).ResultsEighteen recordings had ≥3 hours of artefact-free recording in both the pretreatment and post-treatment sleep study and were therefore included in the analysis. Mean age was 6.3 years (SD 2.5); 83% had OSA prior to intervention. Mean MOAHI was 6.4 (SD 8.6) before and 6.4 (SD 10.8) after the intervention (p>0.05); the DI3 and SpO2nadir also did not change. Only the DI90 decreased significantly from 2.7 (SD 4.5) to 2.1 (SD 3.7) (p<0.05).ConclusionThe 1-week intense myofunctional training camp evaluated here in children with DS had only a marginal effect on OSA. Whether a longer follow-up period or duration of intervention would yield stronger effects remains to be determined.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 2121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Sutherland ◽  
Peter A. Cistulli

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) represents a significant global health burden, with impact on cardiometabolic health, chronic disease, productivity loss and accident risk. Oral appliances (OA) are an effective therapy for OSA and work by enlarging and stabilising the pharyngeal airway to prevent breathing obstructions during sleep. Although recommended in clinical guidelines for OSA therapy, they are often considered only as second-line therapy following positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy failure. There has been a long-standing barrier to selecting OA over PAP therapy due to the inability to be certain about the level of efficacy in individual OSA patients. A range of methods to select OSA patients for OA therapy, based on the outcome of a single sleep study night, have been proposed, although none has been widely validated for clinical use. Emergent health outcome data suggest that equivalent apnoea–hypopnea index reduction may not be necessary to produce the same health benefits of PAP. This may be related to the more favourable adherence to OA therapy, which can now be objectively verified. Data on longer term health outcomes are needed, and there are additional opportunities for device improvement and combination therapy approaches. OAs have an important role in precision care of OSA as a chronic disorder through a multi-disciplinary care team. Future studies on real-world health outcomes following OA therapy are needed.


Breathe ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 29364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophia E. Schiza ◽  
Izolde Bouloukaki

Professional drivers show a higher prevalence of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) compared with the general population. Furthermore, there is concern about the association between OSA and car crash risk given that drivers with OSA show an increased risk for car accidents. Despite this risk, OSA is often underdiagnosed and undertreated in this population, mainly due to lack of appropriate screening and sleep study referrals. Polysomnography (PSG), the gold standard test, is inappropriate for systematic screening because of its high expense, complexity and relative inaccessibility in this population. Therefore, there is a strong demand for good screening tools, including both subjective and objective data that may assist in early identification of possible OSA among professional drivers and, thus, aid in PSG examination referral and OSA management in an accredited sleep centre. However, there is considerable disagreement over screening methods and criteria for triggering a sleep study referral in different countries. There is also a strong need for further research in the area of OSA screening of commercial drivers in order to improve the diagnostic accuracy of screening tools and ensure that patients with OSA are accurately identified.Key pointsObstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is often undiagnosed and undertreated in professional drivers.Professional drivers often under-report and are reluctant to report OSA symptoms.Barriers to OSA diagnosis include appropriate screening and sleep study referrals.Screening tools including both subjective and objective data may assist in early identification of possible OSA among professional drivers.Educational aimsTo evaluate screening instruments currently used to identify OSA risk in professional drivers.To provide guidance for developing an assessment strategy for OSA by professional driver medical examiners.


Thorax ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (12) ◽  
pp. 1095-1102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurice Roeder ◽  
Matteo Bradicich ◽  
Esther Irene Schwarz ◽  
Sira Thiel ◽  
Thomas Gaisl ◽  
...  

BackgroundIt is current practice to use a single diagnostic sleep study in the diagnostic workup of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). However, a relevant night-to-night variability (NtNV) of respiratory events has been reported.MethodsWe evaluated the NtNV of respiratory events in adults with suspected or already diagnosed OSA who underwent more than one diagnostic sleep study. Data sources were PubMed, Cochrane and Embase up to 23 January 2019. Random-effects models were used for evidence synthesis. For moderator analysis, mixed-effects regression analysis was performed. The study was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42019135277).ResultsOf 2143 identified papers, 24 studies, comprising 3250 participants, were included. The mean Apnoea-Hypopnoea Index (AHI) difference between the first and second night was −1.70/hour (95% CI −3.61 to 0.02). REM time differences (first to second night) were significantly positive associated with differences in mean AHI (β coefficient 0.262 (95% CI 0.096 to 0.428). On average, 41% (95% CI 27% to 57%) of all participants showed changes of respiratory events >10/hour from night to night. Furthermore, 49% (95% CI 32% to 65%) of participants changed OSA severity class (severity thresholds at 5/hour, 15/hour and 30/hour) at least once in sequential sleep studies. Depending on the diagnostic threshold (5/hour, 10/hour or 15/hour), on average 12% (95% CI 9% to 15%), 12% (95% CI 8% to 19%) and 10% (95% CI 8% to 13%) of patients would have been missed during the first night due to single night testing.ConclusionWhile there was no significant difference between mean AHI in two sequential study nights on a group level, there was a remarkable intraindividual NtNV of respiratory events, leading to misdiagnosis and misclassification of patients with suspected OSA.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. A10-A10
Author(s):  
A Natsky ◽  
A Vakulin ◽  
C Chai Coetzer ◽  
R Adams ◽  
R McEvoy ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The current health care system is challenged with a large and rising demand for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) services. A paradigm shift in OSA management is required to incorporate the preferences of diagnosed patients and individuals at high-risk of OSA. This study aimed to provide empirical evidence of the values and preferences of individuals diagnosed with OSA and high-risk populations regarding distinct OSA care pathway features. Methods A discrete choice experiment (DCE) was undertaken in two groups: those with a formal diagnosis of OSA (n=421) and those undiagnosed but at high-risk of having OSA (n=1033). The DCE approach used mixed logit regression models to determine preferences relating to eight salient features of OSA management pathway, i.e. initial assessment, setting and diagnosis costs, waiting times, results interpretation, treatment options, provider of ongoing care and frequency of follow up visits. Results The findings indicate that all eight attributes investigated were statistically significant factors for respondents. Generally, both groups preferred low diagnostic costs, fewer follow-up visits, minimum waiting time for sleep study results, and sleep specialists to recommend treatment and as ongoing care providers. Management of OSA in primary care was acceptable to both groups and was the most preferred option by the high-risk group for sleep study testing and ongoing care provision. Discussion The DCE results offer a promising approach for systematic incorporation of patient and high-risk groups preferences into the future design and delivery of care pathways for OSA management.


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