Treating Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)
Once the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is established, Stanford Sleep Group believes the patient should be included in deciding an adequate treatment strategy.
Non-surgical treatments include Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), positional therapy, use of oral appliances, nasal resistors, oropharyngeal exercises, and behavioral measures, including weight loss when indicated, frequent physical exercise, avoidance of alcohol and sedative medication before bedtime.
Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) remains the primary treatment for most adults with obstructive sleep apnea, however some patients don't accept or cannot tolerate it, or have primarily correctable upper airway anatomic problems that can be causing the obstruction.
For these cases the advances in upper airway surgical techniques and appropriated patient selection can offer a definitive solution for OSA. In other cases surgery can be part of a comprehensive approach, improving the severity of obstructive sleep apnea and/or making the use of CPAP or oral appliances more tolerable.
Importantly, a detailed clinical and endoscopic - and in some cases radiologic evaluation - in conjunction with the sleep test will provide us with the available data to decide with the patient what is the best approach, in an individualized manner.
