title: Outpatient treatment of sleep apnea syndrome with CO2 laser: laser-assisted UPPP.
abstract: The pharyngeal airway obstruction that occurs during sleep in some patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) can be improved after treatment by laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty (LAUP), a new technique performed under local anaesthesia. LAUP permits surgery for the treatment of snoring to be performed in an office setting under local anaesthesia. Our experience with LAUP in OSAS in 63 patients is presented. Among the 55 patients classified as successful responders, the respiratory disturbance index (RDI) was reduced by more than 50%. The reduction of apnea length and of preoperative oxygen desaturation index was greater than 50%. The average responder RDI decreased from 41.5 to 16.9. For the entire group, the average RDI decreased from 41.3 to 20.3. There were no significant complications. This method and its results are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Marie-Louise Clinic, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Y V
authors.initials: YV
authors.lastname: Kamami
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D010160:Palate, Soft / Q000601:surgery*; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000601:surgery*; D014609:Uvula / Q000601:surgery*