RCT of the Effect of Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty Compared to Expectancy in Patients With Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Hypothesis:Pharyngeal surgery (UPPP) reduces significantly the nightly respiratory breathing pauses (apnoeas-hypopnoeas) and improves the daytime symptoms compared to expectancy for 6 months in patients with OSAS.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is associated with an increased risk of poor sleep quality, excessive daytime sleepiness and prolonged reaction time, which can elevate the risk for traffic accidents. Increased morbidity and three to four times increased mortality in these patients are well documented, mainly in the cardiovascular field. Pharyngeal surgery, i.e. uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) opens up the airway and was the predominant treatment for OSAS worldwide before continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) devices became widely available in the 1990s. Since then, the main treatment for OSAS has been CPAP, but an increasing number of patients are also treated with mandibular retaining device (MRD). UPPP as treatment for OSAS has been performed for 30 years. The evidence-grade for the efficacy has so far been very low, and the side-effects and complication rate has raised the question whether there is a place for surgical treatment of OSAS. However, the compliance for CPAP and dental devices are quite low (50-60%), leaving a lot of patients untreated if surgery is not offered. RCT UPPP is still missing and called for.