Effects of Minimally Invasive Surgery for OSA on Quality of Life

Abstract

Objective: Study the impact of Pillar implantation plus radiofrequency tongue base reduction (RFBOT) for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome on quality of life (QOL).

Method: All OSA patients with multilevel obstruction who failed or refused the CPAP treatment and then underwent single-staged multilevel minimally invasive surgery (Pillar implantation and RFBOT) were enrolled. The subjective symptoms and QOL (SF-36 Taiwan Standard Version 1.0) parameters were collected pre- and postoperatively. Postoperative morbidity was recorded.

Results: Twenty patients (3 women, 17 men) were reviewed. The mean visual analog scale (0-10) score of postoperative pain was 1.9. One pillar dislocated after implantation. One patient had tongue abscess after RF tongue base surgery. The mean ESS (Epworth Sleepiness Scale) changed from 11.9 ± 5.1 to 10.4 ± 5.0 (P = .049, Wilcoxon signed rank test). The mean snoring VAS reduced from 9.8 ± 0.6 to 4.9 ± 2.0 (P = .000). The mean score of SF-36 increased from 65.5 ± 19.6 to 75.2 ± 16.7 (P = .000). The SF-36 sub-scales in bodily pain, general health, vitality, social functioning and role-emotional showed statistically significant changes.

Conclusion: This study has demonstrated that the single-staged multilevel minimally invasive surgery (Pillar implantation and temperature-controlled radiofrequency of the base of tongue) appears to be an effective and safe tool for treating OSA patients who may be unresponsive to conservative therapy.