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Treatment for Snoring and Sleep Apnea
Snoring, a problem which afflicts millions of people and their partners, occurs when there is obstruction of the free flow of air through the passages at the back of the mouth and nose. It can be the sign of a more serious condition such as sleep apnea, which is why patients should be fully evaluated by a qualified physician.

Standard LAUP treatment in most centers requires three to five sessions to slowly shrink the soft palate. No tissue is actually removed; the palate is slowly scarred and tightened. Our one- step method involves removal of a small amount of tissue in a slightly different area. We call this new procedure, Laser Uvulectomy (LU).

Laser Surgery For Snoring and Sleep Apnea
The office procedure takes about 30 minutes. The uvula and surrounding soft palate are anaesthetized using dental anaesthetic. The vibrating tissue is removed with a hand held laser. No true soft palate muscle is removed and therefore, chances of regurgitation of food and changes in the voice are minimal. This is in contrast to other advertised one-staged procedures. You can return to work or home unaccompanied.
   
There is some throat discomfort associated with the laser surgery. This varies tremendously from individual to individual. The discomfort is helped by oral mouth washes, lozenges, and a mild pain tablet such as Tylenol.

Our results indicate that in carefully selected patients the LU reduces the obnoxious noise and frequency of snoring to a lesser and more acceptable level in all patients and eliminates the noise completely in a significant proportion. In addition, we have found that patients have reduction in their sleep apnea and better quality sleep.

The one step LU technique that we have refined has three major advantages over standard LAUP. First, only one treatment is usually required, which produces less overall pain for the patient. Second, the cost is dramatically less. Third, by removing tissue rather than just shrinking and scarring it, there is a much greater chance of improvement in cases of sleep apnea. In patients who have had a previous tonsillectomy or in those with small tonsils, the postoperative appearance of the palate and throat is similar to patients who have undergone the more aggressive UPPP procedure specifically for sleep apnea.
Lase Surgery

Anatomy
Anatomy
This is a diagram of the back of your throat. The soft palate is attached to the back of the roof of your mouth and hangs down like a curtain. Muscles in the soft palate pull it backwards and close off the nose from the throat. This way when you speak the sound comes out of your mouth. However when you swallow, food goes down the throat and does not come out the nose. You can think of the soft palate being a gate.

The uvula is attached to the soft palate. The function of this structure is not known. The tonsils are located at the sides of the throat, below the soft palate. They act as the first line of defense of the immune system.

If you are a snorer, the soft palate and especially the uvula, vibrates as a flutter valve and causes the unpleasant sounds of snoring. If you have sleep apnea, the soft palate can fall backwards and obstruct the nasal airway.

The first stage of the LU procedure is to anesthetize the soft palate. A local anesthetic spray is applied to the soft palate. This numbs the needle prick of the local anesthetic. The next stage consists of injection of a small amount of local anesthetic solution to the area of the soft palate and uvula that will be removed. Finally, more anesthetic solution is injected so that the soft palate is completely anesthetized.

 


The laser is activated and the surgery begins. Laser cuts are made on both sides of the soft palate. As the laser cuts the tissue, it coagulates the small blood vessels. The height of the cut depends on the patient's soft palate length. The longer the soft palate, the deeper the cuts. The free margin of the soft palate is removed next and with it, the attached uvula.


Once the uvula and a small part of the soft palate have been removed, the cut margins are inspected and any bleeding coagulated with the laser. More long acting local anesthetic solution is injected into the soft palate so that there is pain control for several hours.

Over the next few weeks the soft palate heals and as it does so it becomes stiffer and shorter. There is less vibration of the palate when the person sleeps. Since only a small part of the soft palate is removed, it still functions normally closing the back of the throat from the nose when you swallow or speak.

You can email us at the Pacific Sleep & Snoring Center