Nasal Surgery Can Improve Outcomes in Obstructive Sleep Apnea

A multi-centre study on 735 patients was published in Laryngoscope Journal on 08 Oct 2020.

This was an eight-country collaborative study of 735 obstructive sleep apnea patients who had multilevel palate and/or tongue surgery. They were divided into two groups: one with and the other without nose surgery. There were 575 patients in the nose group and 160 patients in the no-nose group. In this study, it was shown that the nose group had improved outcomes of the Apnoea-Hypopnea Index by 20% compared to the no-nose group.

The reason for this noted difference is that with any nasal blockage, the lungs would need to create a “more negative pressure” to breathe at night. During relaxed states of breathing, this would invariably lead to more suction and collapse of the airway. Given this, we might need to consider including nasal surgery as part of the multilevel OSA surgery for patients with sleep apnoea.

At CSSC, we have had a 75% surgical success rate for the most difficult anatomy groups, even without nasal surgery. We would offer nasal surgery further to improve outcomes for those with any residual nasal symptoms. We would do nasal surgery after they fully recover from their airway surgery.

Disclaimer: The material and information contained in this blog are relevant to the time it was written, for general purposes and in addition to what was provided for patients during their consultation. You should not rely upon the material on this website as a basis for decision-making.

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