ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of surgical intervention on serum insulin-like growth factor 1 levels in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea. METHODS: A prospective study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital of adult patients with obstructive sleep apnoea for whom continuous positive airway pressure therapy failed or was refused. All patients underwent polysomnography and serum insulin-like growth factor 1 evaluation pre-operatively and at three months post-operatively. The site of surgery was determined using Müller's manoeuvre and ApneaGraph AG 200. RESULTS: Fifteen patients were included with a mean age of 38 years: 11 males and 4 females. The mean pre-operative Apnoea-Hypopnoea Index using polysomnography was 53.7 events per hour, and the mean post-operative Apnoea-Hypopnoea Index at three months was 15.3 events per hour (p = 0.0001). The mean pre-operative serum insulin-like growth factor 1 was 160.2 µg/l, while the mean post-operative value was 236.98 µg/l (p = 0.005). CONCLUSION: In adult patients with obstructive sleep apnoea for whom continuous positive airway pressure therapy fails, site-specific surgical intervention to treat the obstruction leads to an increase in serum insulin-like growth factor 1 levels.
