If snoring persists despite everything, he will perhaps have to consider snoring surgery. Its principle is to facilitate the passage of air by removing excess tissue. What is possible in several ways depending on the case: shorten the soft palate, removing part or all of the uvula (pharyngotomy) and remove the tonsils if they are obstructive. A clinical examination performed by the ENT will determine whether it is possible to operate in the best possible conditions. Different surgical techniques can do this:

1. The conventional surgical or pharyngotomy uvulo-palato-pharyngoplasty: excision of part or all of the uvula, tonsils (if they are obstructive), shortening of the soft palate.

2. The pharyngotomy laser: the only difference with the previous technique is that the operation was performed by laser. However, this technique does not remove the tonsils because the gesture is too bleeding.

3. The somnoplasty: the anatomical structures involved are simply retracted using radiofrequency waves. This technique is relatively new and seems to prove himself. In addition, it has several advantages over other techniques:

• it is less painful,
• There is no risk of bleeding,
• It does not require hospitalization as may be done in consultation,
• It requires only local anesthesia.

In comparison, the conventional surgical pharyngotomy takes place under general anesthesia and requires hospitalization for two or three days on average. The laser treatment is done under local anesthesia without hospitalization, but the postoperative stay very painful.

It takes about 900 euros per patient day and it is not reimbursed by social security. As for the somnoplasty, everything depends on the practitioner.

4. Postoperative

The major drawback of these operations is that the suites are quite painful and persist one to two weeks. Swallowing becomes very difficult, which makes it painful to eat. Thus, it is common to observe a relatively large weight loss in patients. None of these treatments is 100% secure, because snoring causes have not been fully determined. However, 75% of operations are a success, whether with conventional surgery or with somnoplasty. The surgery of the soft palate is a procedure rather commonplace that almost all ENT surgeons know how to fulfill in good conditions.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, July 22nd, 2010 at 7:13 pm and is filed under snoring. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.