Cosmetic enhancement associated with surgery for obstructive sleep apnea

To document the capacity of surgery for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) to incorporate techniques that incidentally improve the cosmetic features of the patients.

Retrospective analysis of surgical outcomes at an academic practice.

Moderate to severe OSA usually requires multilevel pharyngeal surgery, including tongue base surgery. The surgical procedures, including hyoid myotomy and mandibular osteotomy with tongue advancement, afford the opportunity to address cosmetic deficits, such as microgenia and excessive submental skin and fat. Outcomes achieved using these procedures over a 4-year period were analyzed.

Of 428 consecutive patients presenting for evaluation of sleep-related breathing disorders, 212 were deemed surgical candidates. Ninety-seven of these had office-based procedures for snoring, upper airway resistance syndrome, or mild OSA. The remaining 115 had formal surgical procedures done, and 68 of these had multilevel pharyngeal surgery. Of these, 12 had defined cosmetic deficiencies that were addressed at the time of the sleep apnea surgery. There were 7 men and 5 women, with a mean age of 48.2 years. The group was moderately obese (mean BMI = 31.8) and had moderate to severe OSA (mean RDI = 37.0, mean LSAT = 78%). Cosmetic deficits identified included turkey gobbler deformity (n = 8), microgenia (n = 6), excessive submental fat (n = 2), and nasal deformity (n = 1); several patients had more than one addressable problem. All patients achieved an improved postoperative appearance. Representative photographs are presented.

A surgical approach to the management of sleep apnea affords an opportunity to also address cosmetic deficiencies, including excessive submental skin and fat, microgenia, and nasal deformities.