Long-term Outcome of Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome Patients: Comparison between Changes of Subjective Symptoms and Objective Indexes Including Respiratory and Sleep Parameters / 대한이비인후과학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty(UPPP) is the most frequently performed surgical treatment of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome(OSAS). Even though polysomnogram is the best method to evaluate the results after UPPP, the patients are often unwilling to undergo postoperative testing, particularly if the patients' symptoms have improved. As the perioperative evaluation of UPPP only based on subjective symptoms may lead to incorrect results, objective indexes such as respiratory parameters and sleep structures should also be analyzed. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the long-term outcome of UPPP in OSAS patients by comparing preoperative subjective symptoms and objective indexes with postoperative results. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We compared preoperative subjective symptoms and objective indexes including respiratory and sleep parameters in 16 OSAS patients who underwent UPPP and were followed up for 15 months or more. RESULTS: Snoring improved in 10(62.5%) of the 16 patients and apnea in 13(81.3%). In respiratory parameters, apnea index(AI) and respiratory disturbance index(RDI) decreased more than 50% in 11 patients(68.8%), respectively. There was no significant change of sleep structure except for in stage I. Only changes of subjective apnea symptom were significantly correlated with changes of AI and RDI, but there were no correlations between the other variables. CONCLUSIONS: In evaluating the surgical outcome after UPPP of OSAS patients, objective analysis on long-term follow-up is needed in addition to assessment of subjective symptom changes.