Complex / Failed Sleep Surgery
Have you undergone sleep surgery and your apnea is not better? This does not mean the end of the road!
For many years, sleep surgeons did not offer much more than a tonsillectomy or palatal surgery to their patients who could not tolerate CPAP. Unfortunately, many of these patients continued to suffer from OSA after surgery due to surgery being poorly executed or other causes of obstructions not being properly recognized. Not surprisingly, sleep surgery received a bad reputation for a long time!
What patients should know
Patients who are considering sleep surgery for the first time or who may have had an unsuccessful sleep surgery in the past, such as a uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) or Inspire surgery, should feel reassured that they will be seen by an expert in the field of sleep apnea surgery. Dr. Weidenbecher has performed thousands of sleep procedures and hundreds of throat and Inspire surgeries. He is trained in various subspecialties including sleep surgery, open and endoscopic airway surgery, and head and neck cancer surgery. With his superior understanding of the upper airway and his broad surgical skill set, Dr. Weidenbecher is able to salvage or fix many difficult sleep apnea cases.
What to expect
All patients will undergo a comprehensive drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) which includes an evaluation of the patient’s airway in different body and neck positions while looking for treatment options to address all identified obstructions. A DISE also provides valuable information for patients who have previously been implanted with inspire but their OSA has failed to improve.
A comprehensive treatment plan including options, if available, will then be discussed with the patient before moving forward with surgery. Not infrequently, patients are found to have more than one obstruction in their throat and only if and when all obstructions are treated appropriately, patients will feel an improvement.
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