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Re: Are there any causes for OSA which cpap wont fix

Posted by Fog on January 21, 2002 at 09:50:14:

In Reply to: Are there any causes for OSA which cpap wont fix posted by wolfgang on January 21, 2002 at 01:09:17:

Surgery should not be a treatment of first choice, it should be a treatment of last resort.

CPAP does not 'fix' a cause of airway collapse, it merely prevents it from happening.

Think perhaps of an automobile tire with a very slow leak in it. If you just keep pumping it up with air every now and then, you can drive on it, but you have not 'fixed' the cause of the leak; whereas, if you cut out and patch the weak part of the tire, you 'may' have fixed it, but there is no way to undo once you've cut into the rubber.

CPAP is cheap, generally effective and is a 'first choice' option. IF it works, fine. IF not, then you can consider other options.

Nasal passages should be looked at, but surgery should be considered only after you have tried cpap and it has failed .

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