Does tonsillectomy with hypoglossal nerve stimulation address lateral wall collapse?

Posted by & filed under Surgery.

Drug-induced sleep endoscopy is an evaluation procedure designed to evaluate the physical cause(s) of blockage in breathing in patients with obstructive sleep apnea. One of the reasons we are recognized around the world for our leadership is the scientific research we have led in this area. One of the major studies showed that specific findings… Read more »

ISSS Miami 2024: Nyxoah, LivaNova updates

Posted by & filed under Palate Surgery, Tongue Surgery.

NOTE: I am a paid consultant to Nyxoah, reviewing preoperative drug-induced sleep endoscopy videos. I have no access to any data regarding treatment outcomes. The just-concluded 2024 Miami International Surgical Sleep Society meeting included presentation of long-awaited trials from Nyxoah’s DREAM study and a number of other important presentations for the field of sleep surgery…. Read more »

Can you “try” hypoglossal nerve stimulation before you commit to it?

Posted by & filed under Surgery, Tongue Surgery.

DISCLAIMER: I am a consultant for Nyxoah, who manufactures a technology mentioned in this blog post. Inspire Medical Systems’ Upper Airway Stimulation is the only FDA-approved treatment of obstructive sleep apnea based on stimulation of the nerve that controls tongue movement (hypoglossal nerve). Based on their successes, a number of other technologies are in clinical… Read more »

Palate shape is associated with palate surgery outcomes

Posted by & filed under Palate Surgery.

Previous blog posts have discussed our research centered on two large databases that include patients from centers around the world to examine how drug-induced sleep endoscopy findings are associated with outcomes of sleep apnea surgery. We have shown that specific different types of sleep apnea surgery and Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation. In this blog, I… Read more »

UCLA Sleep Apnea Surgery Clinical Trial: Combining Surgery with Medications

Posted by & filed under Palate Surgery.

My career in sleep apnea surgery is based on the principle that successful surgery should focus on the physical cause(s) of blockage of breathing for each patient. We can determine these physical cause(s) with different evaluations that examine an individual patient’s anatomy that is the source of these physical cause(s). I have focused on the… Read more »

Insomnia May Prevent Effective Treatment of Sleep Apnea with Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation

Posted by & filed under Sleep Apnea, Surgery, Tongue Surgery.

The last thing anyone wants is to undergo surgery without achieving results. This idea has been the focus of my career in sleep surgery. It has been wonderful to contribute to advancing our understanding about the physical causes of obstructive sleep apnea and ways we can optimize our preoperative evaluation to select procedures. This work… Read more »

Telemedicine for preoperative visits?

Posted by & filed under Sleep Apnea, Snoring, Surgery.

As a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, I receive electronic access to the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. I browse the Table of Contents but generally find that most of the articles are related to general surgery or subspecialties within that field (which used to be true for head and neck… Read more »

Maybe I am not the only one concerned about tongue tie surgery and myofunctional therapy for sleep apnea

Posted by & filed under Uncategorized.

Yesterday, the New York Times podcast “The Daily” focused on tongue tie surgery in children with “The Booming Business of Cutting Babies’ Tongues”. The podcast pointed to the explosive growth in aggressive tongue tie surgery for children. Simple snipping of tissue under the tongue has been done for centuries, with proven benefits for some children… Read more »