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Pilot Study of Soft Palate Implanted Antisnoring Device Implanted Results in Significantly Decreased Snoring

Snoring decreased significantly in a small group of patients who received polyethylene terephthalate (PET) implants in their soft palate, according to the findings of a pilot study.

William I Wei, FRCS, Department of Surgery, University of Hong Kong Medical Centre, Queen Mary Hospital, and colleagues assessed the safety and efficacy of PET implants in 12 consecutive patients with an apnoea-hypopnoea index of less than 15 per hour and a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or less, and no known cardiovascular diseases, previous history of pharyngeal surgery, or history of swallowing or speech disorders. "The principle [of PET implants] is to increase the stiffness of the soft palate so that its vibration during turbulent airflow with inspiration could be reduced during sleep," the authors write.

Of the 12 recruited patients, 9 patients, who were a mean age of 38 years, and a mean BMI of 25.1, had data available for analysis. All patients tolerated the procedure well, displayed minimal bleeding, started oral feeding immediately, and were discharged the same day as the procedure. Most of the procedures were performed under local anaesthesia.

Among the 9 patients with successful implants at 3 months, the loudness of snoring on the visual analogue scale, as assessed by the patients' bed partners, decreased from a mean of 79 at baseline to 48 at 3 months. The apnoea-hypopnoea index improved from 4.8 at baseline to 8.3, and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale score improved from 8.9 at baseline to 5.7. There was no significant change in BMI between baseline and follow up.

Of the remaining patients, 1 was lost to follow up, and 2 experienced extrusions - the only female patient who had a small soft palate and 1 male patient who had 2 extrusions from the oral side of the soft palate. The latter 2 patients both experienced an increase in snoring after extrusion.

All patients except 1 indicated they would recommend the implant for the treatment of disturbing snoring as did 67% of the bed partners of the 9 patients with successful implants.

"The procedure was safe and well accepted by both the patients and their bed partners," the authors note, adding "The average loudness of snoring as assessed by the bed partners decreased to 61% of the original value at 3 months after implantation."

"The ASD [antisnoring device] implant with a 1-stage procedure represents a possible direction to relieve snoring with minimal discomfort and risk," the authors conclude.

Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2004;130:753-758

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