Introduction Expansion sphincter pharyngoplasty has been shown to be a good alternative to continuous pressure devices in patients with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea. On the other hand, drug-induced sleep endoscopy provides information on the pattern of collapse in obstructive sleep apnea, although it is unclear whether this information improves the surgical outcomes.

Objective To evaluate the success rate obtained when performing expansion sphincter pharyngoplasty on a group of patients diagnosed with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea who were not previously selected by drug-induced sleep endoscopy.

Methods We present a series of patients with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea who underwent surgery. Pre- and postoperative home sleep apnea tests were performed. The success rate was calculated, and we assessed whether there were statistically significant pre- and postoperative differences in the apnea-hypopnea index and oximetry values.

Results In total, 20 patients were included, and the surgical success rate was of 80%. Statistically significant improvements were demonstrated in the mean apnea-hypopnea index (from 40.25 ± 15.18 events/hour to 13.14 ± 13.82 events/hour; p < 0. 0001), the mean oximetric data (from 26.3 ± 12.97 desaturations/hour to 13.57 ± 15.02 desaturations/hour; p = 0.034), and in the mean percentage of total sleep time in which the patient had less than 90% of saturation (from 8.64 ± 9.25% to 4.4 ± 7.76%; p = 0.028).

Conclusion The results showed significant improvements in the apnea-hypopnea index and in the oximetric data, with a surgical success rate of 80%, despite the lack of prior drug-induced sleep endoscopy screening.

Received: 18 September 2023

Accepted: 18 February 2024

Article published online:
25 October 2024

© 2024. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Thieme Revinter Publicações Ltda.
Rua do Matoso 170, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, CEP 20270-135, Brazil