Histopathological Comparison of Various Tongue Base Reduction Processes

Tongue base reduction surgery is the only minimally invasive technique that can be performed under local anesthesia as an outpatient procedure, especially to treat obstructive sleep apnea caused by hypopharyngeal obstruction. Studies reported that various devices could be used for tongue base reduction, but comparisons of these methods are limited in the literature. Our study aimed to compare the histological effects of tongue base reduction methods performed with the Celon radiofrequency, monopolar cautery, Coblator, and Sutter devices on the tissue.

This study included 23 female rats (aged 4-8 months). Rats were divided into five groups. Tongue base reduction was performed with monopolar cautery in the first group (5 rats), then Celon radiofrequency in the second group (5 rats), the Coblator in the third group (5 rats), and the Sutter in the fourth group (5 rats). The fifth group was the control group, which comprised three rats. The rats' tongues were resected for histological examination 1 week after procedures.

While the highest amount of fibrosis was seen in the Sutter group, fibrosis was also relatively high in the Coblator group. A significant difference was observed in all groups when compared with the control group regarding tissue thickness. While the average tissue thicknesses of the monopolar, celon rf, and Coblator groups were almost the same, tissue reduction was more marked in the Sutter group.

Although we observed that all the methods used were safe, the method that produced the most fibrosis and tissue reduction was the Sutter method.