Modified anterior palatoplasty and double suspension sutures (with or without tonsillectomy) in selected patients with obstructive sleep apnea: a preliminary report.

Background: Retropalatal region might be considered the most common site of obstruction in patients with snoring and OSA. We aimed at presentation of two combined techniques: modified anterior palatoplasty (MAP) and bilateral double suspension suture (DSS).

Methods: This prospective study was conducted on OSA patients with retro-palatal collapse only that was confirmed by nasoendoscopy during Muller's maneuver and drug induced sleep endoscopy. MAP and DSS were performed for all patients. Preoperative and 6 months after surgery, all patients underwent fiber-optic nasoendoscopy using the Muller maneuver and polysomnography, snoring scores, and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) values were assessed.

Results: Mean apnea hypopnea index (AHI) dropped significantly (p < 0.0001) from a mean of 28.6 ± 5.5 preoperatively to 8.3 ± 2.96 postoperatively. Successful outcome was reported in 26 patients (98.65%) while 3 patients (10.35%) were responders. The mean lowest oxygen (O2) saturation level increased significantly from 79.4 ± 3.5 to 93.1 ± 3.1 (p < 0.0001). ESS showed significant improvement (p < 0.0001) as its mean diminished from 14.5 ± 2.4 preoperatively to 3.4 ± 1 postoperatively. Visual analog scale of snoring was significantly (p < 0.0001) decreased from 7.9 ± 1.3 preoperatively to 1.9 ± 1.2 postoperatively. No early or late complications were reported.

Conclusion: Combined MAP and DSS (± tonsillectomy) could be considered as simple, reliable, easily trained, effective, and safe surgical treatment option for OSA patients with predominant retropalatal obstruction. It could be employed in a single-stage, multilevel work-up.