Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Obstructive sleep apnea as the word suggests is a condition when the patient does not get proper deep sleep because of physical obstruction in the air passage leading to reduced oxygenation to the brain.
Is it related to Snoring?
Snoring happens because of the fact that the tongue falls back and obstructs the airway. This is also definitely a case when the patient has obstructive sleep apnea. Most patients with obstructive sleep apnea have snoring, but all patients with snoring need not have obstructive sleep apnea. So if you are someone who snores, especially loudly and regularly, you must definitely get yourself checked for obstructive sleep apnea. Especially cause obstructive sleep apnea has many severe side effects, and it even cause premature death according to many studies. More importantly, it can be corrected for life with the help of Maxillo mandibular advancements, and other soft surgeries in the ENT regions.
How is it diagnosed?
Obstructive sleep apnea is diagnosed with the help of a polysomnography or a sleep study. In this study, the patient sleeps overnight at the Richardson Face Hospital and the computer is attached as leads onto the patient’s body. When the patient wakes up in the morning, the report is ready. Apart from this study, CT scans, dice and MRI sleep studies are needed from case to case. Dise is drug induced sleep study and performed by our ENT surgeon here. We could also get MRI sleep studies done for certain patients to get more details on the exact type of the sleep apnea.
Patients having severe complaints of regular and loud snoring, daytime sleepiness, inability to concentrate regularly, especially during daytime, waking up in between sleep at night and feeling weak and not able to concentrate are some of the common complaints of patients with obstructive sleep apnea.
What is the role of a CPAP machine?
CPAP machine is generally given by the chest physician in order to increase the oxygenation of the brain while the patient sleeps. Prongs are used on the nose or mask is used in order to supply this extra oxygen from the machine. This helps increase brain oxygenation of the brain, but the patient always has to carry the machine. This is therefore not a cure, but is only treating the problem without giving a definitive cure for the patient. Patient compliance is very essential and also is very hard, especially for someone who is traveling.
Can OSA be cured?
Yes, obstructive sleep apnea can be definitely cure for life. The most curative surgery in this is maxillofacial surgery involving both the jaws. Maxo mandibular, advancements and counterclockwise rotations of the upper job have been proven to give long lasting results. Here at Richardson Face Hospital hundreds of patients in the last couple of decades have been cured of such a severe sleep apnea. The first step for this kind of a definitive cure is a direct consultation or even an online consultation which you can set up with our team. After that investigations will need to be done as advised by the doctor. With all the investigation at hand, we can clearly make a precise tailor-made program. In some patients along with a jaw surgeries, procedures are done on the septum ( like septoplasty) , tongue ( like the tongue base reduction), and also on the tonsils, and overall improvement in the entire airway is achieved for these patients. You can also check many of our videos on YouTube channel Richardson Face Hospital to know more about the same.
Is it a team approach?
For the successful treatment for a patient with OSA many medical and dental team members must work in tandem as a team. Here at Richardson‘s we have the ENT surgeon, Maxwell, facial surgeon, dental surgeon, chest physician, and Anesthesiologist working together to make sure that the perfect results are achieved every time.
How long is the recovery?
If the patient undergo maxillomandibular advancement with counterclockwise rotation, along with other soft tissue procedures, the recovery is going to take 10 days at the hospital. Total recovery might take about 3 to 4 weeks as well.
What will be the cost?
Again the costing will range, but will be from two lakh rupees to seven lakh rupees depending on what all procedures are performed and the stay.
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