title: Three-year follow-up of palatal implants for the treatment of snoring.
abstract: CONCLUSIONS
  The safety of treatment with palatal implants remains high 3 years after the procedure. The implant extrusion rate decreases over time. Additional surgery to the palate is safe. The presence of the implants seems important in sustaining efficacy past 1 year.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate long-term safety and treatment results of palatal implants for treatment of snoring.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective clinical non-randomized trial of 55 patients with primary snoring followed over a period of 3 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No major adverse events were observed. Eleven of the 55 patients (20%) experienced implant extrusions, 8 during the first year, 3 in the second, and none in the third year. Twenty-six patients (47.3%) had additional procedures past 1 year. Only one post-implant surgery caused an extrusion. The success defined as no additional surgery followed by endpoint satisfaction rate was 34.6%. For patients with implants intact it was 41.5% (17/41) at 3 years, significantly better than for those who experienced loss of implants.
authors: Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, St Olavs University Hospital and Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
authors: Ketil W
authors: KW
authors: Skj Stad
authors: St le
authors: Sl
authors: Nordg Rd
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013517:Otorhinolaryngologic Surgical Procedures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010160:Palate, Soft / Q000601:surgery*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011446:Prospective Studies; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D011475:Prosthesis Failure; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012913:Snoring / Q000601:surgery*