Osa Surgical procedure doesn’t require ICU post operative care, study says
As outlined by a new analysis from Singapore, obstructive sleep apnea sufferers who endure surgery, as opposed to making use of a sleep apnea mouthpiece , may not need to have post operative care in an intensive care unit. Up until now, it was thought a spell in intensive care was required so as to be cautious about any difficulties breathing that a patient may encounter after the surgical procedure.

The analysis at the Pacific Sleep Centre defined that only 7% of those studied in their research had any difficulties after the surgical procedure what so ever. They checked 500 patients between the years 2007 and 2010 in the analysis, and they all had different types of surgery such as palate, nasal and tongue operations to help alleviate them from their difficulties of sleep apnea.

One of the biggest potential risks after surgery is that the drugs such as narcotics and muscle relaxants used to help after surgery, could cause breathing to slow to dangerous levels and therefore intensive care has always been the recommended option for all patients post the operation.

Nonetheless, due to the low level of problems found in the analysis, which is available online at the Archives of Otolaryngology, recommendations have been made that patients could be sent for a few hours in the high dependency unit, an area which is ranked just below intensive care.

Osa can be treated in a number of ways, such as with a sleep apnea mouthpiece, or perhaps a sleep apnea machine. The CPAP machine, or Continuous Positive Airway Pressure machine is normally preferred to surgical treatment but in major cases, doctors opt for the operation to make life a lot easier for the patient. Sleep apnea is said to inflict up to 18million Americans, and cause lethargy and heart problems if left undiagnosed.