Study of pharyngeal anatomical diameter in patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome before and after uvulopalatopharyngoplasty

Objective: To explore the changes of oropharynx in patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome(OSAHS) before and after long-term uvulopalatopharyngoplasty with uvula reserved completely.

Methods: Thirty-one patients with OSAHS were studied. The following indexes were measured before and after uvulopalatopharyngoplasty: length of uvula, width of uvula base, distance between two-side pillars (DBTP), distance between uvula and posterior pharyngeal wall(DBUP), length of soft palate, perimeter of neck and body mass index (BMI).

Results: The postoperative length of uvula, width of uvula base, DBTP, DBUP changed significantly after uvulopalatopharyngoplasty( P <0.05). The postoperative length of soft palate was significantly less than that before uvulopalatopharyngoplasty( P <0.05). There was no significance difference in BMI and perimeter of neck between preoperative and postoperative patients( P >0.05).

Conclusions: The uvulopalatopharyngoplasty with uvula reserved completely is an effective method to solve the airway constriction, especially the oropharynx constriction. Transverse diameter could be enlarged to the length of normal adults.