Things to discuss... when considering surgery for snoring and obstructive sleep apnoea

by Adrian Zacher, Bhik Kotecha, Iain Ormiston

This Snorer.com Guide follows the logical flow of air into your body, through your nose, down your throat and past your larynx. Then it moves to surgery on the actual structure of your face – the bones. In the same way that snoring and OSA are points along a line, the surgical approach changes and becomes progressively more serious from ENT to Oro-maxillofacial surgery, in correlation with the severity of the sleep problem. Snoring and obstructive sleep apnoea may be thought of as essentially the same problem but at different levels of severity. Snoring may be defined as “breathing during sleep with hoarse or harsh sounds”, while obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is not just noisy, it is when the airway during sleep collapses, causing obstruction, and the obstruction causes the apnoea (cessation of breathing). Although surgeries are rarely performed, surgical approaches have been largely confined to reduction of the soft palate and uvula (dangly bit in the mouth) and/or removal of nasal polyps (‘lumps’ inside your nasal airway) or septum straightening (correcting a crooked nose) and more recently advancing the upper and lower jaws which advances the soft palate and tongue, opening up the airway, known as an MMA. If you are considering surgery, your hospital doctor or specialist will discuss with the options with you. This will include the likelihood of success, goals of the treatment, risks and benefits of the procedure, possible side-effects, complications and alternative treatments. This guide does not pretend to explain everything in detail; it is intended to provide an accessible, evidence-based introduction, sufficient to help you engage in conversation with your medical professional.

Kindle Edition

Published March 11, 2018