UAS Successful Treatment for OSA When Compared with TORS

by Amy E. Hamaker •

How do transoral robotic surgery (TORS) and upper airway stimulation (UAS) compare for treating tongue base obstruction contributing to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)?

Bottom line: UAS is successful in treating OSA, showing improved outcomes, length of stay, and readmission compared to TORS.

Background: TORS tongue base reduction utilizes robotic instrumentation to perform a lingual tonsillectomy combined with midline glossectomy and supraglottoplasty. With UAS, the hypoglossal nerve is selectively stimulated to induce muscle tone in the upper airway, relieving obstruction and reducing apnea and hypopnea burden; there is also evidence that it improves obstruction at the velum through coupling of the palatoglossus muscle.

Study design: Retrospective review of 100 patients (24 TORS, 76 UAS) from the senior authors’ surgical database who were treated between January 2011 and July 2017.

Setting: Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia.

Synopsis: Thirty-seven TORS and 94 UAS were performed. In the TORS cohort, 16 underwent prior OSA surgery; the mean preoperative AHI and O2 desaturation nadir were 35.70 and 80.50, respectively. In the UAS cohort, 14 patients underwent prior OSA surgery; the mean preoperative AHI and O2 desaturation nadir were 36.64 and 80.27, respectively. The mean postoperative AHI and O2 desaturation nadir in the TORS cohort were 20.05 and 84.10, respectively. The surgical success rate, patients who reached an AHI less than 15, and patients who reached and AHI less than 5 were 54.17%, 50.00%, and 20.83%, respectively. The mean postoperative AHI and O2 desaturation nadir of the UAS cohort were 7.20 and 88.77, respectively. Surgical success rate, patients who reached an AHI less than 15, and patients who reached an AHI less than 5 were 86.84, 89.47, and 59.21, respectively. TORS cohort patients had a mean length of hospital stay of 1.33 days; four patients had a 30-day unplanned readmission for dehydration and pain control. All UAS cohort patients underwent ambulatory surgery, and no patients were readmitted to the hospital. There were no major complications in either group. Limitations included a less-direct comparison between UAS and TORS due to the multilevel nature of UAS.

Citation: Huntley C, Topf MC, Christopher V, et al. Comparing upper airway stimulation to transoral robotic base of tongue resection for treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. Laryngoscope. 2019;129:1010–1013.