[Surgical treatment of snoring and sleep apnea]

Twenty-one patients (four females and 17 males) greatly inconvenienced by snoring were subjected to UPP with CO2-laser technique. All patients were overweight (body-mass index average 30 kg/m2). Narrowing was found at the naso/oropharyngeal border in 71%. All had either abnormal uvula or soft palate. Snoring was reduced to a degree no longer socially troublesome in 17 patients. Three patients were still inconvenienced to some extent. Snoring was completely unchanged in only one patient. UPPP is not very difficult to perform, and we did not notice any sequelae of importance. We think that UPPP is an effective operation for severe snoring, although it does not eliminate the symptom.