The Effect of Pure Prone Positioning Therapy for the Patients With Mild to Moderate Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Sleeping in prone position could be effective in the management of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) by reducing the gravity effect on the upper airway and hence collapsibility. Pure prone positioning (PPP) consisted of a pillow mounted on a table designed to keep the subjects sleeping prone with the head extended in line with the body.

Inclusion criteria

• Patients were enrolled to the study among one hundred and eighty-four consecutive patients who were admitted to our sleep center with 6 beds in a tertiary care hospital, during 3 months period. Of these, 36 patients with mild to moderate OSA (AHI=5-30 events/h) were invited to participate in the study based on the selection criteria, and 29 patients with mild to moderate OSA on their baseline PSG, (17 males, 12 females) gave informed consent and participated in the study.

Exclusion criteria

• Patients having BMI>35 and/or abdominal and/or trunkal obesity that may hinder prone sleeping , upper airway pathology (nasal polyp, nasal turbinate hypertrophy, chronic sinusitis, nasal septum deviation, upper airway infection, Mallampati score and tonsil size grade of IV), any other concomitant sleep disorder (narcolepsy, periodic leg movement syndrome, insomnia, sleep related hypoventilation-hypoxemia and central sleep apnea syndrome), psychiatric disorder such as panic disorder, heart failure and coronary artery disease were not included in the study.