[Comparative effectiveness of maxillomandibular advancement surgery versus mandibular advancement device for patients...

Currently, positive airway pressure is the gold standard treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Unfortunely, adherence rates are poor. Alternative therapies are mandibular advancement device (MAD) and maxillomandibular advancement (MMA).

This retrospective study compared both treatment effectiveness on patients with moderate and severe OSA from January 2005 to September 2012, and carried out predictive factor of effectiveness. We defined therapeutic success as an apnea hypopnea index (AHI) less than 15 per hour and at least a 50% reduction of the initial index. The difference in effectiveness has been studied using regression logistic adjusted on MAD versus MMA propensity score.

This study included 198 patients. 37 were treated by MMA, and 161 with MAD. MMA treatment was significantly more efficient than MAD treatment with an odds ratio of 3.22; CI95% 1.31Γ7.82 (p = 0.011). Younger age and lower initial AHI were predictive of increased success. There was no significant interaction between the treatment and morphologic patient factors.

In our sample of patients, MMA surgery was significantly more efficient than MAD treatment for the patients with moderate or severe OSA. No morphologic characteristic was identified to determine which patients would benefit most from MAD versus MMA surgery.