Stop Snoring Surgery
When the area that surrounds the throat, referred to as the oropharyngeal segment, collapses, it causes snoring. Thus, the goal of snore surgery is to either limit or completely eliminate this collapsing. This surgery will remove part of the soft palate and in some cases the tonsils also. In order to find out just what degree of obstruction is occurring, many surgeons will conduct a sleep nasendoscopy before performing surgery on a patient.
There are four primary stop snroing surgeries, which type of operation do you really need? It all depends on what structure (or structures) are obstructing your airway during sleep.
Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP)
If it’s your soft palate (the roof of the mouth) and uvula (that little punching bag in the back of the mouth) that are “falling backwards,” blocking your airway, then UPPP (uvulopalatopharyngoplasty) is worth considering. In a UPPP, the surgeon will trim off the lower part of the soft palate, including the uvula. If you still have tonsils, the surgeon will remove them at this time. He/she will then place sutures to bring the raw tissue edges together. You will have an upside-down “U” of stitches in the back of your throat. Depending on whether you needed a tonsillectomy, the operation may take about an hour, more or less.
Laser-assisted uvuloplatoplasty (LAUP)
LAUP is performed under local or general anaesthetic and is considered to be a safer, more economical and a more comfortable alternative to UPPP. It involves vaporising the free edge of the soft palate and uvula using a laser. Unlike UPPP, LAUP can be repeated in order to obtain the desired effect. The number of procedures needed varies with some patients requiring up to four sessions. The tonsils are not removed with this procedure. Although laser surgery is associated with fewer complications than UPPP, post-operative pain is still reported as being severe.
Platal stiffening operations (CAPSO)
Cautery-assisted palatal stiffening operation (CAPSO) is a recently developed single office-based procedure performed with local anesthesia for the treatment of palatal snoring. A midline strip of soft palate mucosa is removed, and the wound is allowed to heal by secondary intention. The flaccid palate is stiffened, and palatal snoring ceases. Because this procedure is less invasive than UPPP or LAUP there are generally fewer complications, however post-operative pain is similar to the other surgical methods. Data now available shows that the short-term efficacy is also similar to that of UPPP and LAUP. As with LAUP, CAPSO can be repeated until the desired effect on
the snoring is gained.
Radio-frequency ablation (Somnoplasty)
Somnoplasty is a lately develop method of treatment to treat sleep apnea as well as snoring problem. The word ‘Somn’ means ‘sleep’ while the ‘plasty’ stands for ‘surgical repair’. Somnoplasty is a different type of surgery as you do not need to go under the surgeons knife. To get this surgery done, you are not required to get hospitalised as the whole process consumes hardly an hour. It can be performed in the office of the doctor or in outpatient ward.
In Somnoplasty, low powered and low-temperature radio frequency energy is used with a needle. At times, you may need to go through more than one treatment. Here it must be noted that unluckily this process is at present works best particularly in the cases of mild obstruction! Coagulation in the excess tissues is created. Thereafter, the tissue is reabsorbed so as to lessen the tissue’s volume and opening up the airway passage. You will have very little pain or bleeding. You will feel sensation of heat in your throat area because of the needle being used; however, it lasts only for a few moments. The tissue which is involved in the process can be in the upper airway area, the uvula or the tongue.
Stop Snoring Surgery Summary
Of these four stop snoring surgeries, it is laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty that is most frequently performed. This is widely held to be the safest of the four snore surgeries and patients undergoing this surgery can have either a general or local anesthetic administered. The procedure itself will use a laser to vaporize the uvula and the edges of the soft palate. The best thing about this surgery is that is has a very limited number of recognized side effects.
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