Surgery for Sleep Disorders: Treating Sleep Apnea & Snoring Through Surgery

When medication, lifestyle changes and hypnosis fail to treat a sleep disorder, surgery may be needed. While it's serious, last-resort option, surgery can significantly improve the quality of life of someone suffering from sleep problems. For the most part, sleep disorder surgery is used to correct either snoring or sleep apnea with more success as a treatment for snoring.

How Effective is Surgery?

Because both snoring and sleep apnea are generally caused by a nasal obstruction, surgery to treat each of these disorders relies on removing whatever obstructs airflow through the nasal passage. The three most common points of obstruction include:
  • deviated septum
  • enlarged nasal tissues
  • obstructive sleep apnea.

While surgery is effective in correcting a deviated septum and enlarged nasal tissues, it is more problematic when used to treat obstructive sleep apnea because obstructive sleep apnea can be the result of a variety of factors. The three types of obstructive sleep apnea include:

  • central
  • mixed
  • obstructive.
Surgery is most effective in treating obstructive sleep apnea, the most common type, because it involves removing the airway blockage. However, surgery is far less successful for both central and mixed sleep apnea. Central sleep apnea, a more serious condition than the obstructive variety, occurs when the brain temporarily forgets to send signals to the diaphragm to breathe. Mixed sleep apnea is a combination of both disorders. Because surgery can't fix the way the brain transmits signals, removing the blockage, if any exists, only solves part of the problem.

Types of Sleep Disorder Surgery

Surgical options range from simple injection procedures to complex nasal airway surgery. The most common options include:
  • Septoplasty: This complex surgical procedure is used to correct deviated septums (the septum is the layer of tissue that divides the nostrils) Septoplasty surgery is often done in conjunction with the turbinectomy procedure, a surgery designed to enlarge each nasal cavity.

    While the procedure generally takes about one-and-a half-hours under general anesthesia, recovery time can take up to one month. However, most septoplasty patients regain about 80 percent of normal nasal function after about one week. Because septoplasty is an invasive procedure, only those with serious, potentially life-threatening sleep disorders should consider this procedure.

  • Snoreplasty: This non-surgical procedure involves injecting the chemical Sotradecol into the areas of the mouth that vibrate during snoring, specifically the soft palate and the uvula. With each injects, these areas become tighter, vibrating less and, therefore, reducing the incidence of snoring.

    Generally, patients go in for three injections that are spaced out about six to eight weeks apart. Snoreplasty procedures last about 15 minutes and require local anesthesia. Not only is this procedure successful about 80 percent of the time, but it is also low-risk.

  • Somnoplasty: Like snoreplasty, somnoplasty is a non-invasive, low-risk procedure that takes less than 20 minutes and occurs in your doctor's office. By injecting low-temperature, low-frequency radio waves into a patient's throat, the somnoplasty causes the tissue of the nose to first clot and then be reabsorbed by the nose, thereby enlarging the nasal cavity.

    Recovery time is generally about one week. Although the somnoplasty is still a relatively new procedure in the treatment of snoring and sleep apnea, it has a success rate of about 80 percent.
  • Turbinectomy: Usually performed with a septoplasty, a turbinectomy is a procedure that creates more space in each nasal cavity by removing excess tissue and/or bone. This procedure requires local anesthesia and ultimately improves airflow through the nose.

    Like septoplasty, this surgical procedure should only be considered for the most serious cases of sleep disorders.

Not only are the above procedures effective in treating snoring and sleep apnea, but they can also alleviate a number of other health issues, including:

  • nasal headaches
  • nosebleeds
  • obstructed airflow
  • poor sinus drainage
  • poor visual of inner nose.

Potential Side Effects of Sleep Disorder Surgery

Although side effects are rare, the following complications have been reported in exceptional cases:
  • breathing problems
  • chronic nasal drainage, dryness or crusting
  • eye damage
  • failure to straighten the septum or fix sinus infection
  • headaches
  • lengthy hospitalization
  • need for allergy treatment
  • need for more surgery
  • nosebleeds
  • permanent hole in septum
  • permanent numbing of face, palate or teeth
  • prolonged pain
  • slow healing
  • weakened sense of smell or taste.

The choice to undergo sleep disorder surgery to correct nasal obstruction should not be taken lightly. Discuss all possible options with your doctor to determine which is right for you.

Resources

About.com. (2007). Sleep Apnea. Retrieved January 17, 2007, from the About.com Web site: http://sleepdisorders.about.com/cs/sleepapne1/a/sleepapnea.
htm.

About.com. (2007). Sleep Disorders. Retrieved January 17, 2007, from the About.com Web site: http://sleepdisorders.about.com/od/surgery/a/noknife.htm.

Medicine.net. (1996-2007). Nasal Airway Surgery. Retrieved January 17, 2007, from the Medicine.net Web site: http://www.medicinenet.com/nasal_airway_surgery/article.htm.
 
Put An End To Snoring. (2005). Injection Snoreplasty. Retrieved January 17, 2007, from the Put An End to Snoring Web site: http://www.putanendtosnoring.com/snoreplasty.htm.