The authors have no funding, financial relationships, or conflicts of interest to disclose.
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Sleep Medicine
Four-year outcomes of palatal implants for primary snoring treatment: A prospective longitudinal study†
Article first published online: 17 JAN 2012
DOI: 10.1002/lary.22510
Copyright © 2012 The American Laryngological, Rhinological, and Otological Society, Inc.
Additional Information
How to Cite
Rotenberg, B. W. and Luu, K. (2012), Four-year outcomes of palatal implants for primary snoring treatment: A prospective longitudinal study. The Laryngoscope, 122: 696–699. doi: 10.1002/lary.22510
- †
Publication History
- Issue published online: 21 FEB 2012
- Article first published online: 17 JAN 2012
- Accepted manuscript online: 6 JAN 2012 10:26AM EST
- Manuscript Accepted: 22 NOV 2011
- Manuscript Revised: 21 OCT 2011
- Manuscript Received: 7 SEP 2011
- Abstract
- Article
- References
- Cited By
Keywords:
- Snoring;
- sleep apnea;
- palate implant;
- palatoplasty;
- evidence based medicine;
- Level of Evidence: 2b
Abstract
Objectives/Hypothesis:
The objective of this study was to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of palatal implants as the treatment of primary snoring.
Study Design:
Prospective longitudinal cohort study.
Methods:
This study compared snoring outcomes before and after soft palate implantation for patients diagnosed with primary snoring (no sleep apnea). Snoring severity was obtained by the subjects' sleep partners on a 10-point Likert scale. A paired Student t test compared the mean scale values preoperatively at week 52 and at the current 4-year follow-up. Body mass index for each patient was also compared to evaluate for any significant confounders.
Results:
Data were obtained from 23 patients out of 26 who were followed for the full study term. The follow-up time was on average 4 years following palatal implantation. A statistically (P < .016) and clinically significant improvement in the snoring scale was noted when comparing snoring severity between the preoperative and 4-year period and between the 52-week and 4-year scores. Although statistically significant improvement was found between the preoperative period and 52 weeks, there was a clinical deterioration in snoring scale scores between 52 weeks and 4 years. The mean (standard deviation) preoperative score was 9.5 (0.5), mean week-52 score was 5.0 (1.6), and mean 4-year score was 7.0 (1.8). Body mass index did not change through the observation interval.
Conclusions:
Soft palate implantation is a possible surgical technique with which to attempt to achieve subjective improvement of primary snoring severity. Subjective improvement, however, deteriorates significantly over time, and is only minimally sustained at 4 years postoperatively. This study provides new information on long-term palatal implant effectiveness.