OSBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP APNEA – BIMAXILLARY ADVANCEMENT (ORTHOGNATHIC SURGERY) AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE AIRWAY

Successful Treatment Rarely Used

Orthognathic surgery used to advance the upper and lower jaws is a highly successful surgical treatment in many cases of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). (J Oral Maxillofac Surg 73:1133-1142, 2015). Either in spite of this or maybe out of some level of ignorance, I have found that regionally we rarely use this technique in treatment of OSA. As a surgeon who has extensive background, training, and experience in orthognathic surgery I often wonder why we do not pursue this further.

Improving Health Standards for All Patients

Frankly, from my point of view, these are typically difficult patients to manage from a health standpoint, and they are often “unhappy” patients frustrated with their condition and situation. This fact causes me not to pursue these patients in terms of any type of marketing or public awareness. Having said that – I do care deeply about improving health standards for our patients and OSA is a serious condition with many troubling side effects for the patient. If I had OSA, I would want to pursue all reasonable avenues of care including orthognathic surgery.

Posted by richardwagner262 on Jan 24th, 2016 11:57 am
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