Myofunctional therapy applied to upper airway resistance syndrome: a case report

The literature presents publications on the treatment of patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) by myofunctional therapy, but there are no reports of this approach to patients with upper airway resistance syndrome (UARS). The objective was to verify the effect of myofunctional therapy in a case of UARS in relation to morphological and functional aspects of the stomatognathic system, anthropometric data, and quality of sleep. Patient, aged 61 years, diagnosed with UARS, underwent 12 sessions of myofunctional therapy for 3 months with exercises aimed at the suprahyoid, the tongue, and the soft palate muscles. Evaluations were performed before the start of the therapeutic process, right after the end, as well as 1, 2, 4, and 10 months after the completion of the treatment, considering: tonicity and mobility of the suprahyoid muscles, the tongue, and the soft palate; modified Mallampati grade; neck circumference; body mass index; and parameters of sleep quality. After the therapeutic process, there was a decrease in scores related to the tonus of the suprahyoid muscles, mobility, and tonus of the tongue and of the soft palate. The Mallampati grade was IV in the initial evaluation, and III in subsequent assessment. There was a reduction of 2 cm in neck circumference and BMI remained similar over time. In analyzing the three parameters of sleep quality, improvement was observed in all evaluations after discharge. Therefore, the effect of myofunctional therapy in a case of UARS was positive for all parameters.