Sleep Apnea Appliance - Sleep Better NW

Sleep Apnea Surgery

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Dr. Erin Elliott

When patients are diagnosed with sleep apnea, physicians such as Ear, Nose and Throat Specialists frequently prescribe surgical treatment. For some patients, it provides relief, but for many others, it is ineffective. Surgical sleep apnea treatment should be reserved as a last resort for treating sleep apnea because it:

  • is irreversible (with the exception of palatal pillars)
  • is expensive
  • is invasive and painful, with a long recovery period
  • has relatively low, long term success rates (as low as 25% in some studies)

The reason for the low success rates is two fold. First, obstructive sleep apnea is not always caused by the same tissues removed by surgeries such as uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (also called UPPP or UP3, which removes the uvula, the tonsils and adenoids and a portion of the soft palate). This does not prevent the airway from collapsing due to other issues. For example, UPPP has no effect on the way the jaw hangs when the patient is unconscious. If the jaw drops to a position that allows the tongue to roll back into the throat, the patient will likely still snore and suffer from obstructive sleep apnea. The patient may snore more quietly, but he will still be, in effect, suffocating in his sleep.