The key is making the right decision about whether you can or cannot tolerate and sleep comfortably with CPAP, whether it takes 3 days, 3 months, or 3 years. Some patients are completely unable to tolerate CPAP in spite of our best efforts, while some patients take some time to become fully comfortable with it. There is no defined period of time for using CPAP before you consider alternative treatments. Do I have to use CPAP for three months before I’m eligible? Evaluation techniques like drug-induced sleep endoscopy allow a sleep surgeon to understand what procedures may work best for an individual patient, and drug-induced sleep endoscopy is actually required before receiving Upper Airway Stimulation because it shows whether someone has a good chance to benefit from this therapy. Specialists in sleep surgery are familiar with the wide range of procedures that I describe at. Different people have different causes of their sleep apnea, and this is true when it comes to surgery. Surgery for sleep apnea is not one-size-fits-all. How do I know if I’m a candidate for this therapy? Can my doctor order it or do I need to see a specialist? Here are answers to some of the questions I receive about it. Upper Airway Stimulation is different from other treatments for sleep apnea in many ways, including the fact that it combines surgery and non-surgical treatment. There is a main unit (called a pulse generator) that sends a signal to the nerve controlling tongue movement ( hypoglossal nerve) through a stimulation lead as well as a sensing lead that allows the system to send that signal only when the patient is breathing in and not through the entire night. The Upper Airway Stimulation system works somewhat like a pacemaker for the tongue. I was the first surgeon in the Western United States to offer Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation and have many years of experience with this approach to treating sleep apnea. Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation is an exciting new treatment that was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration in 2014 for patients with obstructive sleep apnea who do not tolerate or do not benefit from positive airway pressure therapy. If you are having trouble with positive airway pressure therapy or if it is not helping you, you may want to consider alternative treatment options, including surgery.
However, some patients cannot tolerate or sleep comfortably while wearing it. Positive airway pressure therapy (whether CPAP, BPAP, APAP, or another form) is the first-line treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (see the image of an obstructed airway to the right). Eric Kezirian answers your questions about upper airway stimulation therapy with the Inspire device.
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