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 »

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 »

Wondering how to learn more about sleep surgery? The first step is seeing a surgeon so you can discuss surgery directly, especially if you are not responding to first-line sleep apnea treatment options. Obstructive sleep apnea is the blockage of breathing occurring during sleep. First-line options include conservative measures (weight loss when appropriate, avoiding sleep… Read more »

How has sleep surgery changed over time? In this post, we discuss two key sources of change: drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) and the Nyxoah Genio hypoglossal nerve stimulation system. DISE is a sleep apnea surgical evaluation that helps surgeons develop a targeted, effective plan, improving outcomes. It is recommended in many patients considering surgery, especially… Read more »

Are you interested in ways that AI can improve sleep surgery? So am I! I just returned from a sleep surgery course where there was a tremendous amount of discussion about how artificial intelligence (AI) revolutionizing medicine now and in the years to come. After decades of optimism (from others) and pessimism (from me), I… Read more »