Snoring and sleep apnea are diseases that affect at least 20% of our society, including children. Snoring and sleep apnea are not diseases caused by a single cause. There are many factors that trigger the formation of these diseases (multifactorial); the patient's anatomical structure (nose, soft palate, tongue base, jaw structure and neck), age, weight, other diseases (diabetes, hypertension, anemia, thyroid diseases, etc.) and the patient's family history.
Snoring is the sound produced due to the vibration of the soft palate while sleeping. Sleep apnea is the cessation of breathing during sleep for at least 10 seconds. Sleep apnea causes a decrease in the oxygen level in the blood in the short term, an increase in the heart rate, which causes us to wake up at night in a panic with a feeling of suffocation, headaches in the morning, muscle and joint pain, dryness in the throat, a feeling of obsession and tickling, feeling like we are not getting enough sleep and feeling like we are not getting enough sleep during the day. It causes us to fall asleep and lose concentration.
In the long run, it can cause sleep apnea, hypertension, heart enlargement, heart failure and even sudden death during sleep. In short, it is not a disease that should be ignored.
Nose-related diseases can be a cause of snoring; Deviation, narrow nasal angle, which we call nasal valve, large nasal concha, which we call concha, presence of polyps in the nasal cavity, and allergic rhinitis, which is a common disease today, are also among the reasons for nasal snoring.
Apart from this, diseases of the soft palate and the tonsil area called oropharynx may be the cause of snoring (drooping soft palate, large tonsils, etc.). The fact that the root of the tongue is enlarged and blocks the airway during sleep is among the reasons that the jaw structure may be behind, especially in patients with sleep apnea.
The fact that the root of the tongue is large may narrow the oral cavity backwards and this may lead to narrowing of the airway. opens. Due to the relaxation of the tongue muscles during sleep and the effect of gravity, the existing narrowness increases further and may cause sleep apnea.
There are a number of surgical procedures performed in the treatment of sleep apnea due to tongue root enlargement. Many of these procedures do not adequately reduce sleep apnea, putting the airway at risk from the surgery itself. and was abandoned because it was very painful.
Today, there are two current surgeries used in tongue root surgeries. The first of these is the endoscopic removal of the excess at the back of the tongue, abbreviated as "SMILE". Processing time is approximately one hour. The hospital stay is one night.
Another current surgical method applied to the tongue root is reducing the size of the tongue root with a robot. The process takes approximately 2 hours. Hospital stay is at least one night.
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