Ask a Sleep Doctor Question 47

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Question 47 - How long to recover from multiple procedures?

From: EL

Dear Dr Li:

I have been diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. I have completed the sleep study; both nights. 74 apneas an hr. on my side and 96 an hr on my back.

I am not bipap compatible. Surgeon wants to do sliding genioplasti, uppp, hyoid suspension and partial glossectomy.

How long would my recovery period be and how painful are these procedures?

Thanks,

Response Provided by Dr. Kasey Li
Nov. 4, 2008

Your sleep apnea is quite severe. Most of the time, when the sleep apnea is severe, the the airway obstruction is quite severe as well.

You were recommended to have quite a bit of surgery that could compromise your airway very much. Clearly, you will need to be watched in the ICU. If all of these procedures are done at once, the recovery can be quite long.

You need to understand that recovery is variable due to variability of the anatomy, the patient as well as the skill of the surgeon. In my experience, I would not recommend my patients to return to work for probably 2-3 weeks following these procedures. In fact, it is unusual for me to recommend all of these procedures at the same time, due to the degree of invasiveness.

Kasey Li, MD

Ask the Sleep Surgeon Question 47

Ask the
Sleep Surgeon Question 47