Standard ENT clinical evaluation of the sleep-disordered breathing patient; a consensus report

Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) patients usually undergo an ENT clinical examination before any therapeutic decision. This clinical examination would be predictive about the occurrence of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome, cost effective, reproducible and would determine the sites of obstruction in the upper airways. To achieve this, ENT specialists from Belgium, representatives of academic hospitals in the country, have tried to establish an updated work-up in the clinical evaluation of the SDB patients. History, risk factors evaluation, excessive daytime sleepiness, static and dynamic evaluation of the upper airways (velopharynx aspect, tonsils grading, Mallampati score, Müller's maneuver, fiberoptic evaluation) have been standardized in a consensus report easily accessible to the vast majority of ENT specialists. This consensus must be understood as a clinical work-up to perform before the monitoring of breathing during sleep.