The treatment of snoring by radiofrequency-assisted uvulopalatoplasty and results after one-session protocol: a prospective, longitudinal, non-randomized study

Abstract

Snoring is usually caused by the vibration of walls of the soft palate at the pharyngeal level. Its worldwide prevalence is estimated to range between 2 and 85% depending on age, gender or population group. The aim of this study is to determine the degree of improvement that can be subjectively evident in patients treated by snoring with radiofrequency-assisted uvulopalatoplasty based on a one-session protocol. This is a prospective, longitudinal, non-randomized study. Patients of both sexes, aged 18 years, who attended to the ENT consultation in a tertiary hospital with snoring during the period of July 2012-July 2013 were included. Age, body mass index, Epworth sleepiness scale were calculated. The volume of snoring of each subject was assessed using a visual analog scale. A total of 27 patients were included in the study; the average age of the sample was 49 years (±8.7; min 36/max 74); of these 22 (81.5%) were male and 5 (18.5%) females. The average BMI was 27.07 ± 2.5 (min 23.15/max 29.39) before the test and after 1 year was 26.75 ± 2.32 (min 23.11/max 29.56) with no statistically significant differences in BMI before and after surgery (p = 0.407). Preoperative snoring intensity was 8.10 ± 0.93 according to VAS. We found a statistically significant difference in the post-operative intensity at 3 months of 3.93 ± 0.88 (p ≤ 0.05) at 6 months of 4.41 ± 1.08 (p ≤ 0.05), and after 1 year 4.90 ± 0.77 (p ≤ 0.05). The average rate of ESS was significantly higher preoperatively than post-operative, being 8.76 ± 3.1 preoperative and 6.93 ± 1.68 post-operative (p ≤ 0.05). We conclude that the use of radiofrequency in simple snorers with an apnea/hypopnea index <15 events per hour and a BMI < 30 kg/m(2) in whom clinically proven that the source of snoring is the soft palate, can be treated by one-session protocol, being possible to obtain an improvement of snoring up to 70% of cases by a short follow-up period.