[Assessment of the effectiveness of uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) in the treatment of mild and moderate OSA patients preliminarily selected for the procedure by simple clinical examination].

INTRODUCTION

There is abundant conflicting information in the literature about prognostic value of sophisticated, diagnostic tests as well as data from simple clinical examination in its surgical treatment due to the complex nature of OSA. The aim of our study was to assess the efficacy of uvulopalatopharyngoplasty in the treatment of mild and moderate OSA patients who were preliminary selected by simple clinical examination.

MATERIAL AND METHOD: 20 patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome were included in this study. There were patients who met the following criteria: RDI less than 30, BMI less than 30, collar size less than 43 cm, normal nasal potency, modified Mallampati grade I or II, were enrolled in the study. The mean age of the patients was 45,5. Modified Mallampati score was used for evaluation the structures of oropharynx.

RESULTS

55% of patients were classified for grade I in Mallampati score and 45% of patients- grade II in this scale. At least 50% reduction of RDI after UPPP was observed in 75% of patients. The mean RDI was decreased from 21,35 in preoperative period to 9,85 in the control study. In 60% of our patients the RDI dropped to the value of less then 10. In 5% of the patients, the surgical treatment did not decrease at least 50% of RDI. However in this patient group, we observed a slight improvement of mean minimal saturation (from 84,1 +/- 3,8 to 86,2% +/- 3,6).

CONCLUSION

Using simple clinical parameters for preliminary selection of patients with mild and moderate OSA enabled us to achieve considerably better success rate after UPPP.