Somnoplasty Effectiveness – Know About it Before Saying ‘Yes’ to Surgery

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One of the common tendencies that most of us have when faced with an impending surgery is to discuss its efficacy with family and friends. Obviously we get reports that are more subjective than objective, depending on the individual experiences of people we are talking to. Perhaps a more prudent decision to get more objective and authentic information about the efficacy or success rate about a surgical procedure is to check out the excerpts of clinical trials that many authority sites regularly publish online.

For example if you have been advised somnoplasty surgery, and want to get more information about somnoplasty effectiveness, there are some excellent sites that can enlighten you about what to expect from the procedure. Accessing such information would keep you more prepared before you actually agree to get the surgery done.

However, to understand the implications of somnoplasty effectiveness, a good idea is to understand the underlying principle of somnoplasty surgery. First of all, somnoplasty is one of the least invasive and minimally complicated surgeries for the treatment of habitual snoring, nasal congestions and sleep apnea. The surgery that takes all of 45 minutes or so, is performed by a qualified ENT surgeon in the outpatient clinic with the help of local anesthesia.

While this is only skeletal information about the procedure, there is much to know and understand about this type of surgery that was approved by FDA in 1997 for treating habitual snoring. Its mode of action aims to achieve two primary objectives: to clear the air passage of any obstruction by stiffening and reducing the volume of relevant tissues that may be located in the soft palate, uvula, nose, back of tongue or the throat.

The surgery is done using a Somnus device, also referred to as the electrode that has been preheated by using radiofrequency thermal power. This electrode pierces the relevant obstructing tissues in order to scar them. The scarred tissues get reabsorbed by the body in the next 4 to 6 weeks. The procedure successfully stiffens the relevant tissues so that they do not collapse while in a relaxed state and its volume is also reduced by 10 to 15% so that the air passage is rendered clear of any blockage.

With regard to somnoplasty effectiveness, the problem that most of us face is that we are unable to interpret the results as published in the clinical trial reports. However, with a bit of help in interpretation of the results, we get to know what can be expected from the surgery. For example, the original trial to establish the efficacy of the surgery, involved 13 treatment sessions of somnoplasty, 85.3% of which proved to be successful after 2 treatments with mean snoring index reducing by 60.6% and Mean Epworth Sleepiness Score reducing by 37.5%.

When thinking about somnoplasty effectiveness, you have to keep in mind that the effectiveness of the procedure may not be apparent soon after the surgery. It will not be before 15 days that the first signs of improvement show up. Of course, from then onwards, the improvements continue for several months.

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