[Long-term follow-up of patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome treated with uvulopalatopharyngoplasty].

OBJECTIVE

To study the long-term outcome of uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS).

METHODS

Long-term follow-up for 32 cases of patients with OSAS was conducted in 3 years after UPPP. The respiratory disturbance index (RDI), body mass index (BMI), blood pressure (BP), fasting blood glucose (FBG), triglyceride, cholesterol were followed.

RESULTS

RDI was reduced markedly from 58.1 +/- 25.5 to 38.7 +/- 15.3 at 3 years after UPPP. The total effective rate was 87.5% after one month. 55.2% after 3 years. Their BMI, BP, FBG, triglyceride and cholesterol were also reduce significantly.

CONCLUSION

UPPP can improve the hypoxemia of patients with OSAS, reduced the BP, FBG, BMI, improve the lipid metabolism. Long-term outcomes of UPPP were possibly related to the preoperative BMI, RDI, the skeletal structure of the upper airway and postoperative BMI change. After UPPP, long-term follow-up is recommended because some initially successfully treated patients with OSAS will relapse in the later follow-up.