|
If you do not know
what obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is, first go to OSA
page to find out
Dental appliance beats
surgery for sleep apnea
A dental appliance worn at night appears
to be more successful in treating obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) than surgery,
according to a study conducted in Sweden.
People with OSA stop breathing dozens of times each
night, causing them to gasp for breath. The condition is conservatively
estimated to affect up to 4% of middle-aged Americans, and is particularly
common among obese people. Sleep apnea has been linked to daytime sleepiness,
as well as an increased risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular
disease.
The Swedish study found the success rate in patients
with OSA who wore the dental appliance was 81%, compared to 53% in OSA
patients who had surgery. However, after 4 years, many patients were no longer
wearing the device when they slept. Lead author Dr. Marie-Louise Walker-Engstrom
of Central Hospital in Vasteras, Sweden, and colleagues report their findings
in the March issue of the medical journal Chest.
There are several treatments available for sleep
apnea, including continuous positive airway pressure, in which a person wears
a facemask that introduces a gentle stream of air into their airways to keep
them open during the night. Surgery called uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP),
in which tissue from the back of the throat is removed, may also be performed
to treat OSA. This is the main surgical treatment for people with mild to
moderate OSA, the study authors note.
The current study compared UPPP to a dental appliance
worn at night that pushes the lower jaw slightly forward, increasing airflow
in and out of the throat.
In the study, 95 men diagnosed with mild to moderate
OSA were split into two groups. One group underwent UPPP surgery and the other
patients were fitted with the dental appliance. All of the men went through a
battery of sleep tests that evaluated their OSA before treatment and again 1
and 4 years after treatment.
"The success rate in the dental appliance group
was 81%, which was significantly higher than in the UPPP group, 53%,"
Walker-Engstrom and colleagues write.
However, only 62% of the patients in the dental
appliance group were still wearing the device when they slept after 4 years.
But the researchers found that the dental appliance had few adverse effects on
the jaw and throat, and the number of adjustments and repairs of the
appliances over time was moderate.
"This long-term controlled trial...represents a
major step forward in catching treatment options for OSA up to the recent
progress made in detecting the disease," writes Dr. Scott E. Eveloff of
the Kansas City Pulmonary Clinic in Missouri, in an accompanying editorial. He
notes that there is no "gold standard" for OSA treatment, but a
number of effective options that can be tailored to the individual patient.
SOURCE: Chest 2002;121:674-677,
739-746.
|