Short- and long-term outcomes of uvulopalatopharyngoplasty for snoring

Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty is a well established and highly successful operation in the treatment of snoring. However, most published data are based on relatively short-term follow-up results. Anecdotal cases of late recurrence of snoring after an initially successful surgical result have been reported but few formal studies have been performed to determine the true magnitude of this problem. We compared the short-term and long-term results on our patients and found the late recurrence rate after a minimum follow-up period of 12 months (range: 12-84 months, mean 31.3 months) to be in the region of 13%. The risk of recurrence was directly related to the body mass index.