title: Patient outcomes after soft palate implant placement for treatment of snoring.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Multiple options are available for the treatment of snoring. Our objective was to evaluate a palatal implant system in the treatment of snoring caused specifically by retrovelar collapse.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective long-term study comparing snoring outcomes pre- and post-soft palate implantation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Snoring patients without significant sleep apnea were offered palatal implantation after assessment via strict inclusion/exclusion criteria. Snoring severity was rated by the bed partner, in a longitudinal fashion, using a Likert scale both in the preoperative and postoperative settings. Paired Student t-tests were used to compare the mean snoring severity preoperatively and at different points of time postoperatively up to 1 year and to compare patient's body mass indices over the study timeline.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data were obtained from 25 patients over a follow-up time of 1 year, for a total of 75 implants. A statistically and clinically significant improvement in the snoring was noted over the 52-week time period of the study in our patient population (mean preoperative score = 9.5, mean 52-week postoperative score = 5.0; p < .001). Body mass index did not significantly change over the duration of the study.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In our patient population, soft palate implantation was a safe and effective technique for achieving a subjective improvement in the intrusiveness of snoring as noted by the bed partner.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario. brian.rotenberg@sjhc.london.on.ca
authors.forename: Brian W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Rotenberg
authors.forename: Hussain
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Alsaffar
authors.forename: Thileeban
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kandessamy
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010160:Palate, Soft / Q000601:surgery*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D019919:Prosthesis Implantation / Q000379:methods*; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology; D012913:Snoring / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome