Surgeons at the Wayne State University School of Medicine have been performing transoral robotic-assisted surgery (TORS) on patients for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. The treatment for patients suffering obstructive sleep apnea remains non-surgical, but for those for whom non-surgical methods were unsuccessful, surgery is an option. Patients who either aren’t compliant with CPAP therapies or who cannot tolerate the use of the machine may be turning to their physicians for surgical treatment.
The surgery targets the obstruction in the patient’s throat at the level of the soft palate and has been found to be effective in about 50 percent of the patients treated. The reason for the lower-than-ideal success rates is that the obstruction of air flow can occur at multiple points in the patient’s throat and the surgery addresses only the blockage at the soft palate level.
In order for the TORS to be effective, the surgeon has to evaluate each patient and identify the exact site or sites where the patient is suffering an air flow obstruction. The surgical treatment needs to be targeted at that particular area in order for it to be effective.
Surgeons say that obstruction at the back of the tongue plays a significant role in sleep apnea and surgical treatments are challenging because it’s difficult for the doctor to see and safely operate in that area.
The robotic device provides the surgeon a way to safely navigate and operate to remove the obstructions, which is usually excessive tissue that cause an obstruction in the patient’s airway.
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