Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Surgeon's Perspective.

Abstract

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a complex medical disorder with significant impact on mortality, quality of life, and long-term cardiovascular outcomes. The apnea-hypopnea index does not correlate well with either quality-of-life measures or health outcomes, so other outcome measures must be evaluated in treatment of OSA. OSA can be successfully treated through behavioral, nonsurgical, and surgical methods with improvements in quality of life, morbidity, and mortality. Surgical intervention should be considered in patients who are noncompliant with or fail positive airway pressure use. As is true with PAP therapy, surgery for OSA improves mortality and symptoms of OSA even when the polysomnogram does not fully normalize.