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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

2024 Advances in Sleep Apnea and Snoring Course Highlights

Posted by & filed under Sleep Apnea, Surgery.

We have just completed the 29th Advances in Diagnosis and Treatment of Sleep Apnea and Snoring course in San Francisco. It is so enjoyable to be one of the course directors, where we can think about the newest developments in the field and other topics to incorporate as we develop the program. As I do…

Palate shape is associated with Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation outcomes

Posted by & filed under Sleep Apnea, Surgery.

The Upper Airway Stimulation system from Inspire Medical Systems has been an important and exciting addition to the array of treatment options for obstructive sleep apnea. I was the first surgeon in the Western US to offer it to patients after FDA approval in 2014, and I have seen the tremendous difference it has made…

Will there be a new era of (sleep apnea and snoring) medical education conferences?

Posted by & filed under Uncategorized.

On February 16-17, 2024, we will hold the 29th annual Advances in Diagnosis and Treatment of Sleep Apnea and Snoring course. We are delighted to have an outstanding faculty to speak on what we feel are interesting and provocative topics. As I do every year, I will share what I feel are some of the… Read more »

ISSS and AAO-HNSF 2023 Sleep Surgery Research Highlights

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

Nashville, TN was the site of both the 2023 International Surgical Sleep Society (ISSS) Educational Symposium and American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Foundation Annual Meeting. It is always wonderful to see colleagues and long-time friends. However, I wanted to take the chance to share some of what I found to be… Read more »