Abstract
Background
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a serious, potentially life-threatening disorder. There are many treatment modalities are being used, but none of them gained consensus. Continuous positive airway pressure considered the most widely accepted treatment of OSA but very poor adherence limits its effectiveness, thus was the need for alternative therapy of high compliance and effective for long term.
Aim of the Work
To perform a meta-analysis of the available studies included outcomes of hypoglossal nerve stimulation to evaluate its effectiveness as a choice of treatment of obstructive sleep apnea.
Patients and Methods
The study included published medical articles that evaluated the efficacy of hypoglossal nerve stimulation as treatment of obstructive sleep apnea with outcomes for primary outcome measures apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), oxygen desaturation index (ODI), and for secondary outcome measures Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Functional Outcomes of Sleep Questionnaire (FOSQ) before and after implantation.
Results
Eight prospective studies with 329 patients were included in this met analysis. At 12 months, statistical analysis demonstrated significant reductions in AHI, ODI with standardized mean difference of -1.3940 (95% CI: -1.7745 to -1.0136; P = 0.0042), -0.9188 (95% CI: -1.3040 to -0.5337; p = 0.0002) respectively, and -not significant- reduction in ESS, FOSQ with standardized mean difference of -1.0365 (95% CI: -1.1889 to -0.8841; p = 0.2290), 1.0545 (95% CI: 0.8867 to 1.2223; p = 0.4922), respectively. Similar were observed at 6 months.
Conclusion
Hypoglossal nerve stimulation results in significant improvement of primary outcome measures of OSA with significant reduction of apnea episodes. It could be considered as an effective -but still of high cost- alternative for OSA patients. Further studies comparing HNS to other therapies are needed.
Hypoglossal Nerve Stimulation Therapy for the Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea
