CHICAGO (Reuters) - Laser surgery to control sleep apnea--which occurs when a person stops breathing and awakes several times during the night--appears to work in the short term but causes even worse snoring and apnea later on, according to a report published on Sunday.

Doctors at Meir Hospital, Sapir Medical Center in Kfar Saba, Israel, said they reached that conclusion after studying 26 patients with obstructive sleep apnea who underwent laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty.

The surgery, which has been available in the United States since the early 1990s, removes excess tissue at the back of the throat, which is intended to eliminate the vibration that can cause snoring and allow a person to breathe more freely.

In a report in the April issue of the Archives of Otolaryngology--Head & Neck Surgery, a publication of the American Medical Association, the researchers said the apparent benefit of the surgery diminished over time.

"We achieved a surgical success in only one-third of our patients and found a deterioration of existing (obstructive sleep apnea) in a considerable number in addition to late worsening of the ... initial results," the study said.

"The facts ... are cause for concern and suggest that (the laser technique) might not be an appropriate procedure," it concluded.

The authors said the reversal in snoring improvement might be due to the technique itself since the cut and vaporized tissue leaves a raw surface that eventually scars. Heavy scarring can narrow the back of the throat, making it more rigid and less able to stretch during inhalation, they said.

In general, the report concluded, there was only a 58% overall satisfaction rate with the procedure.

Reference Source 89

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