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Re: Inflated success rates for UPPP surgery

Posted by Sandman on December 11, 1997 at 11:11:17:

In Reply to: Inflated success rates for UPPP surgery posted by Gene Miller on December 11, 1997 at 09:46:29:

The problem is different people use different criteria for a cure. Some surgeons use reducing the number of apneas in half as being successful. Some use the criteria of getting the apnea hypopnea index below 20 as a cure. The surgeons I know use the criteria that the result of the surgery must be equal to using a CPAP machine. Using this criteria the success rate is much lower than the looser criteria. I prefer the equal to cpap because if you have a RDI (respiratory disturbance index) of 60 and after surgery it is 25 some surgeons may consider that a success but a RDI of 25 can still cause problems. You may be able to use a lower pressure on cpap but you are not totally cured.
However, there are successes with UPPP. There are due to the site of the obstruction being in the soft palate. It is very difficult to tell exactly where the obstructions is located. Sometimes they are in more than one location. So if you obstruction is at the base of the tongue then a UPPP will not help a lot. If it is both it will help some. If it is all in the soft palate you may get a cure. Your surgeon may feel that most of your obstruction is at the soft palate and feels you have a better chance for a cure. But from what I have been told it is impossible to be absolutely sure where all the obstruction is located. Hope this clears things up a little. If you want to see a visual look at what I am talking about go to the web site PENN TODAY Obstructive Sleep Apnea located on SleepNet's Sleep Links sites under Apnea. Great examples of obstruction due to soft palate (MRI) and other locations.

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