Shared decision making was characterized in 2008 by Barratt as “an approach to medical decisions in which patients and clinicians work together to reach a mutually agreed upon decision that is consistent with the best available evidence, as well as patients’ preferences”.  This concept was not new, as Sackett had defined evidence based medicine in… Read more »

The 2018 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Surgery (AAO-HNS) was held earlier this week in Atlanta, Georgia.  It was a wonderful opportunity to share experiences with long-time colleagues and some that I had not met previously.  In addition to my presentations related to drug-induced sleep endoscopy, Tongue Region Surgery,… Read more »

  Inspire Medical’s Upper Airway Stimulation technology is a powerful (no pun intended) addition to the array of options for individuals suffering from obstructive sleep apnea.  As a surgeon who implants this therapy, I see patients (whether my own or those coming for a second opinion) where Upper Airway Stimulation is not working well.  While… Read more »

Two months ago, I developed two videos related to drug-induced sleep endoscopy that I posted on my YouTube page.  One video discussed drug-induced sleep endoscopy and provided some example videos, and the other discussed how drug-induced sleep endoscopy can be used to improve the selection of treatments (surgery and oral appliances) and enhance results.  Just… Read more »

Drug-induced sleep endoscopy is a surgical evaluation technique that can be used to evaluate patients considering surgery or oral appliances for treatment of obstructive sleep apnea.  The approach was developed in a number of center in Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but the techniques have been refined over time. Drug-induced sleep endoscopy has… Read more »

Drug-induced sleep endoscopy is one of the most common topics on which I give lectures to other physicians around the world.  Although I like to think that my words are so thoughtful and insightful, I know that the real highlights of these talks are the drug-induced sleep endoscopy videos I show as part of the… Read more »

Earlier this month, I attended the 9th meeting of the International Surgical Sleep Society in Munich (ISSS).  The ISSS is the world’s premiere organization dedicated to sleep apnea surgery and snoring surgery.  I am proud of having been the ISSS President from 2014-2017 and for organizing or co-organizing the 7th and 8th meetings in Sao Paulo,… Read more »

Obstructive sleep apnea is a potentially-serious medical disorder.  Patients with obstructive sleep apnea need treatments that are based on science.  I am writing this post because over the last several months, I have seen a disturbing number of patients with obstructive sleep apnea who have tried and failed myofunctional therapy and/or frenuloplasty/frenectomy or who have… Read more »

Our 2018 Advanced in Diagnosis and Treatment of Sleep Apnea and Snoring course was just held in San Francisco, and I wanted to share some of the highlights.  I truly enjoy being a co-director of this course, as we have an outstanding faculty from whom I always learn a temendous amount.  They deliver updated lectures on… Read more »

I have written previously on the role of the epiglottis in obstructive sleep apnea.  My colleagues around the world largely agree that the epiglottis plays an important role in about 10% of patients with obstructive sleep apnea.  However, there is much that we do not know, including why epiglottis-related obstruction occurs in some patients but… Read more »