Laser Snoring Treatment: Risks, Pros And Cons

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 17:49

Laser snoring treatment

Snoring is not just an unpleasant companion of a night's rest, but a serious illness that worsens the quality of life only for the patient himself, but also for his loved ones. If you ignore snoring, then it can have a negative impact on the work of most body systems.

During snoring, a person's breathing is interrupted, but he does not feel it. This leads to oxygen starvation, daytime sleepiness and increased fatigue. In addition, snoring is associated with risks such as: arrhythmia, tachycardia, high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke. Sleep apnea is especially dangerous, which is fraught with complete cessation of breathing and death of a person.

Snoring diagnostics. The person may not even be aware that he is snoring. This is most often reported to him by close people living with him in the same apartment. After establishing this fact, you must go to an appointment with an ENT doctor. The doctor will examine the patient's nasopharynx, determine the structure of his airways, as well as how vibration appears, leading to snoring. After determining the cause of your snoring, your doctor will recommend the most appropriate treatment. It is also possible to refer the patient for a consultation with a therapist and endocrinologist.

A modern technique that helps doctors diagnose snoring is called polysomnography. It allows you to find out if snoring is accompanied by respiratory arrest. The study is absolutely safe and painless for the patient. Special sensors are attached to his skin, which record respiration indicators and brain activity. Naturally, at this time a person must sleep.

Content:

• Indications for laser snoring treatment
• Preparing for surgery
• Contraindications to laser snoring treatment
• Laser palatoplasty in the treatment of snoring
• Pros and cons of laser snoring treatment
• Side effects
• Result

Indications for laser snoring treatment

Laser treatment for snoring is a surgical technique that is not recommended for all people. To begin with, the doctor will try to solve the problem with conservative therapy. Patients may be advised to change their lifestyle, treat diseases of the nasopharynx, try to use orthopedic mattresses and pillows for sleeping, stop smoking and drinking alcohol, control body weight, etc. If this does not help, then an operation is prescribed.

It may be recommended for patients with the following problems:

• Anatomically incorrect shape of the organs that are responsible for human breathing. Frequent colds and ENT infections can contribute to the softening of the upper palate. They make this area of the oral cavity loose, and the uvula becomes longer. As a result, it will not be possible to get rid of snoring by conservative methods of exposure, an operation will be required. Sometimes the uvula is lengthened from birth, which also requires laser uvulopalatoplasty.
• The presence of a large amount of lymphoid tissue that accumulates near the nasopharynx. This is due to chronic diseases of the oral cavity. In this case, the patient undergoes laser pharyngouvulopalatoplasty.
• Curved nasal septa are also an indication for laser treatment.
• The laser beam can be used to remove benign nasal tumors or fibrous growths that are often the cause of snoring.
• The lumen of the pharynx can be expanded with a laser.

Preparing for surgery

• X-ray of the nose.
• Getting advice from a surgeon.
• Blood donation for clinical and biochemical analysis, urine collection for general analysis, fluorography.
• Before the operation, you need to treat all infectious, colds and other bacterial or viral diseases.

Contraindications to laser snoring treatment

Contraindications to laser snoring treatment are the following:

• Uncontrolled gag reflex.
• Thickened tongue.
• Professions related to creative activity, such as: singers, musicians, actors, etc. The fact is that the operation can provoke a temporary change in voice, which can be critical for a certain category of people.
• Childhood.
• Diseases of the cardiovascular system.
• The presence of a malignant tumor in the body.
• Any illness in the acute stage.
• Pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Laser palatoplasty in the treatment of snoring

Laser treatment for snoring is done in a hospital. The patient is injected with local anesthesia, after which the tissues of the soft palate are cut from 2 sides with a narrowly focused laser beam. As a result of the operation, the patient develops two small wounds, which, tightening, raise the soft palate.

With the help of a laser, it is possible not only to tighten the sagging tissue, but also to instantly coagulate the vessels. Therefore, the risk of bleeding during the procedure will be minimal.

The operation is short in time, but you have to go through it several times. This improves the efficiency of the procedure. Most often, five are required.

As a result, the tissues of the soft palate and uvula harden. Therefore, the vibration created during the passage of air through the nasopharynx does not provoke the appearance of a characteristic sound.

Rehabilitation after the operation is short, it does not take more than 2-3 weeks. During this time, the patient will experience sore throat and earaches. To reduce pain, you can take pain relievers, rinse with anesthetic solutions.

During the rehabilitation period, you will need to stop eating foods containing acid.

The wound will heal completely after 21-30 days. Palatoplasty, or as it is also called, uvulopalatoplasty, is the most common technique for treating snoring with a laser beam. However, depending on the problem that provoked its appearance, other procedures may be carried out.

Types of laser snoring surgery:

• Pharyngouvulopalatoplasty a - in addition to the laser, the doctor uses special forceps during the procedure. With their help, he either completely removes the tonsils, or reduces them in size. The operation is performed under local anesthesia.
• Correction of nasal septa. The doctor uses a laser beam to make incisions in the inner lining of the nasal cavity. After gaining access to the nasal cartilage, the doctor heats and adjusts it, giving the nose the correct shape. As a result, the patient gets rid of snoring. The operation is most often performed under general anesthesia.
• Removal of fibroids and small lumps in the nose. Depending on the complexity of the operation, the patient can be shown both local and general anesthesia.
• Narrowing of the pharyngeal passage. With the help of a laser, soft tissues are removed, which are subsequently replaced with denser tissue.

Pros and cons of laser snoring treatment

The advantages of the technique:

• Minimal blood loss.
• The speed of the operation. In general, the procedure takes no more than half an hour.
• No need to go to the hospital. After the operation, the patient should be under the supervision of doctors for no longer than 2 hours.
• Short rehabilitation period. Doctors indicate that it can be 20-30 days. Although in most patients, all residual effects disappear after 10 days.
• No need for general anesthesia.
• Complete elimination of snoring, which significantly improves the quality of life in general and night rest in particular. Moreover, this is true not only of the patient himself, but also of his immediate environment.

It should be understood that laser treatment for snoring has a number of disadvantages, including:

• The operation is not completely painless and therefore requires the introduction of local anesthesia.
• During the rehabilitation period, you will need to take pain relievers to reduce pain. This is especially true for the first two days after the procedure.
• Inflammation of the lymphoid tissue and throat mucosa is possible. This is especially the case when the laser beam hits nearby tissues. Such unprofessional actions of the surgeon lead to the formation of a severe burn.
• There remains a risk that the operation will be ineffective, although it does not exceed 20%.
• It may take several surgeries to stop snoring completely.
• The procedure carries the risk of side effects.
• The operation has a number of contraindications, so not all patients can undergo it.
• The high cost of the procedure. In some clinics, it can reach 60 thousand rubles.

Side effects

Laser treatment for snoring is associated with a number of side effects, including:

• Dry throat.
• The onset of pain in the ears.
• Voice change (this side effect is reversible).
• The risk of bleeding.
• The risk of infection.
• Increased salivation.
• Problems with eating are possible.
• Bad breath.

Result

As statistics show, about 80% of all patients who have undergone laser snoring treatment completely get rid of their problem.

The effectiveness of the treatment depends on a number of factors, namely: on the severity of the disease, on how correctly the diagnosis is made and how correctly the treatment tactics are chosen. Of no small importance is the surgeon's qualifications and experience, as well as the manufacturability of the equipment with which the treatment is performed.

Snoring is a problem that needs to be addressed. To get rid of snoring, you need to see a doctor and follow his recommendations.

The author of the article: Lazarev Oleg Vladimirovich | ENT

Education: In 2009, he received a diploma in the specialty "General Medicine" at the Petrozavodsk State University. After completing an internship at the Murmansk Regional Clinical Hospital, he received a diploma in Otorhinolaryngology (2010)