title: Surgery of the palate and oropharynx.
abstract: Progress in successful surgical treatment of the obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) has been based on adjunctive treatment of the hypopharynx. Still the palate and oropharynx are the major areas of intervention, and certainly the most commonly operated upon. To ensure a successful outcome, appropriate surgical candidates must be identified. The authors present a method of clinical staging based on the position of the tongue relative to the soft palate as well as the size of the tonsils, aimed at identifying the most likely level of obstruction in patients who have OSAHS. We also present several surgical techniques that address obstruction at the level of the soft palate and oropharynx.
authors.affiliation: Section of Head and Neck Surgery, Department of Otolaryngology and Bronchoesophagology, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, 30 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 1107, Chicago, IL 60657, USA. hednnek@aol.com
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schalch
mesh_terms: D002508:Cephalometry; D006801:Humans; D009960:Oropharynx / Q000601:surgery*; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D021362:Palate, Hard / Q000601:surgery*; D010160:Palate, Soft / Q000601:surgery*; D017286:Polysomnography; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*