Long-term stability of results following surgery for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)

Although upper airway surgery in selected patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been shown to be beneficial, its long-term effects have been questioned. The main objective was to evaluate whether results following surgery remain stable over time, both in objective and subjective terms. As a secondary aim, such stability was also measured in relation with the type of surgery performed.

This work constitutes a retrospective study of OSA adult patients subjected to the following surgical procedures: different types of pharyngoplasties, tongue-base surgery, partial epiglottectomy or hyoid suspension. Those who exclusively underwent tonsillectomy or nasal surgery were excluded. Before surgery, a sleep study, and an assessment of the patients' sleepiness and quality of life were performed, which were repeated at 8, 34, and 48 months after surgery. A total of 153 patients was included.

Following surgery, the apnea-hypopnea index decreased from 34.84/h to 14.54/h and did not vary more than one point in subsequent controls (p = 0.01). The oxygen desaturation index changed from 31.02/h to 14.0/h and remained stable in the second (15.34/h) and third (11.43/h) controls (p = 0.01). Parameters measuring sleepiness and well-being demonstrated the maintenance of long-term benefits. New pharyngoplasties were observed to be more stable than classic pharyngoplasties in the long term (p = 0.04). Single-level surgeries were found to be more stable than multilevel surgeries, although a statistically significant difference was not observed (p = 0.07).

The benefits obtained remained stable in the long term. In our sample, modern pharyngoplasty techniques showed superiority over the classic ones regarding long-term stability.