A new treatment for snoring: sling snoreplasty with a permanent thread.
CONCLUSIONS
Sling snoreplasty could be a new effective palatal snoring procedure with minimal side effects. It could be combined with other snoring and sleep apnea operations.


OBJECTIVE
To introduce sling snoreplasty with a permanent thread.


METHODS
The procedure is performed under local anesthesia and in the sitting position. The instrument requirements include a nylon no. 4 suture, two needle-holders (or one needle-holder and a straight kelly), and a tongue depressor. Sling snoreplasty with a permanent thread is a retention suture technique applied to three portions of redundant soft palate in a triangular, tetragonal or pentagonal shape.


RESULTS
Sling snoreplasty could be called a three-dimensional retention suture technique to shorten, conglomerate, and tense the soft palate. It also elevates the soft palate forward and upward, and widens the oral cavity and nasopharyngeal space. The suture not only provides a sling effect in the soft palate but also incorporates into the soft palate musculature, imparting rigidity to the airway like tongue suspension suture. Patients have only a little pain and normal diet on the day after surgery. There are minimal postoperative complications.
Hur
Jun
J
Department of Otolaryngology, Hurjun ENT Clinic, Busan, Republic of Korea. hurjun@hanmail.net
D006801:Humans; D013517:Otorhinolaryngologic Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D012913:Snoring / Q000601:surgery*; D013536:Suture Techniques