title: Comparison of upper airway collapse during general anaesthesia and sleep.
abstract: Measurement of the collapsibility of the upper airway while a patient is awake is not a good guide to such collapsibility during sleep, presumably because of differences in respiratory drive, muscle tone, and sensitivity of reflexes. To assess whether a relation existed between general anaesthesia and sleep, we measured collapsibility of the upper airway during general anaesthesia and severity of sleep-disordered breathing in 25 people who were having minor surgery on their limbs. Anaesthetised patients who needed positive pressure to maintain airway patency had more severe sleep-disordered breathing than did those whose airways remained patent at or below atmospheric pressure. Such an association was strongest during rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep. Our findings suggest that sleep-disordered breathing should be considered in all patients with a pronounced tendency for upper airway obstruction during anaesthesia or during recovery from it.
authors.forename: Peter R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Eastwood
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Szollosi
authors.forename: Peter R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Platt
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Hillman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000768:Anesthesia, General / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000145:classification / Q000209:etiology*; D012895:Sleep, REM