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Posted by Questforsleep on January 24, 2006 at 05:43:26:
I am a 35 year old man. I have had a very poor result after a laser LAUP operation on my throat about one year ago. Before the operation, I snored, but did not have any trouble sleeping. I slept soundly and woke up feeling rejuvenated in the mornings. In August 2004, I an LAUP operation. About 8 months after the operation, I started to notice that my snoring continued, but was higher in pitch. I was gasping at night and felt dizzyness in the daytime. My blood pressure jumped up to 154/100. I took a PSG test, and it showed that my AHI was 35, mostly hyponeas. Basically, I have developed severe sleep apnea. The doctor said that scar tissue had formed in the back of my throat is probably responsible. I sometimes read of people wondering if LAUP or UPPP is a good idea or not. I say, please do your homework very carefully. I have learned the hard way that there are serious life long consequences to hasty decisions. The throat is a very finicky area of the body. Changing the aerodynamics of the throat is risky. Repairing the damage is also going to be very difficult and expensive - possibly 80-100K for bimaxillary advancement - which I cannot afford. CPAP is my only option at this point, but it is less effective because the palatal seal has been removed.
As for LAUP, some surgeons have written me back saying that lasers are a poor modality because they can create more thick scar tissue than scalpels do, and some patients end up with narrowing of the airway after laser surgery. This is the exact opposite result from what you want.
I urge anyone who is considering to have an LAUP operation (or even a UPPP) to think very carefully about it, and if possible, to consult the website from the Vancouver Sleep and Breathing Centre, which is written by a doctor who is familiar with patients who have undergone one-step LAUP operations. The URL is as follows:
http://www.sleep-breathing.bc.ca/laup.html
I also suggest reading the highly acclaimed book "The Promise of Sleep" and to note carefully what the author, doctor Dement of Stanford Univ. says about LAUP.
Please don't get me wrong. I want to be clear that I am not trying to say that all uses of LAUP or UPPP are wrong. I am sure that many people have had good results after them. What I am trying to say, is that there is a big risk to these surgeries, and you have to be prepared to pay severe life long consequences if the operation goes wrong. If you want to correct snoring, surgery should be a last resort. Appliances and CPAP are way better.
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