Surgical results of different palate techniques to treat oropharyngeal collapse

The aim of this study was to assess the surgical success rate of patients undergoing oropharyngeal surgery, selected through drug-induced sleep endoscopy. Secondly, to compare outcomes of the different oropharyngeal surgery techniques applied. The study design was retrospective case series of surgically treated patients from 2006 to 2013. All patients were diagnosed with either moderate or severe obstructive sleep apnea and did not tolerate conventional positive airway pressure. We performed five different surgical techniques to treat oropharyngeal collapse: partial palate resection, uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, Z-palatoplasty, lateral pharyngoplasty and expansion pharyngoplasty. Patients in whom multilevel surgery was performed were excluded. 53 patients were included in our study, 52.8 % were severe obstructive sleep apnea patients, mean age was 43.9 years, mean body mass index 27.5. The surgical success rate according to Sher’s criteria was 71.7 %. 47.2 % had a postoperative apnea hypopnea index lower than 10. The highest success rate was measured in patients who underwent expansion pharyngoplasty (90 % according to Sher’s criteria, 80 % with a postoperative apnea hypopnea index lower than 10) although it did not reach statistical significance. Our conclusion is that drug-induced sleep endoscopy is a good tool to select surgical candidates in patients with moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea who are not compliant with the optimal therapy. Expansion pharyngoplasty was the surgical technique with the highest success rates.