Dr. Kezirian’s Blog

I am not a cannabis expert by any means. This post is meant to share what I do know about cannabis and research that we have just published in Sleep Health: Journal of the National Sleep Foundation. The publication is available on the journal’s website for the month of September only. I have no financial… Read more »

Patients ask me all the time about the chances that their sleep apnea surgery will work. Here, I want to explain my approach to answering that question and the reasons for my answer. Most medical research examines short-term outcomes, typically less than 6 months. This limitation to short-term results is especially true for surgery, including… Read more »

Patients ask me often, “What is the best sleep apnea surgery?” That is a TOUGH question to answer. In my opinion, it is a fair question but not really the right one. A better question would be, “What is the best surgery for me?” or “What makes one surgery better or different than another for… Read more »

How does a small structure with a funny name — the epiglottis — contribute to obstructive sleep apnea? What can be done to treat the epiglottis? My colleague at UC San Francisco, Dr. Andrew Goldberg, came up with a title for a lecture I have given (and which I have used for this blog post),… Read more »

Drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) is the most important sleep apnea surgery evaluation tool in my 20-plus years of work in sleep apnea surgery. That being said, it is far from a perfect sleep apnea surgery evaluation, and there is some controversy about the best technique. Over the years, questions about the technique have centered around… Read more »

Are you experiencing problems with an oral appliance to treat your obstructive sleep apnea? You are not alone. Oral appliances are an important and valuable treatment for snoring and obstructive sleep apnea. Oral appliances (mandibular advancement devices/mandibular advancement splints shown in image below) work by holding the lower jaw (mandible) in a forward position during… Read more »

Do you (or someone you love) snore loudly? Interested in learning what we really know about conservative approaches, including some that are advertised that may not be helpful at all? I perform surgery for snoring and sleep apnea all the time, but I use these steps all the time in taking care of my patients…. Read more »

Have you ever wondered if surgery should be considered a first-line treatment for obstructive sleep apnea? If so, you are not alone. I certainly have many patients who report knowing from the outset that they would not be able to tolerate non-surgical treatments–and were right–and wished they could proceed directly to surgery. The point is… Read more »

Surgery for sleep apnea: one size fits all? One of my first blog posts in 2012 was entitled “The Surgery” for Sleep Apnea, and it referred to the fact that, at that time, most surgeons were performing a single type of surgery in all patients. Fast forward to 2026, and that single surgery for all… Read more »

Are you unable to tolerate CPAP? Does increasing your CPAP pressure make your sleep worse, maybe even causing you to choke? Today, the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine published our research that may explain why this happens in some patients and how surgery can help. DISE-PAP as a tool to guide surgery My career has… Read more »