new robotic surgery

[dogluvr]

I just saw on NBC's the Today show, a new robotic surgery for sleep apnea sufferers. I think it is fairly new and of course, not for everyone, but it appears to be much more effective than the 'traditional' surgery for sleep apnea. I'm hoping sometime yet in my lifetime, hopefully sooner rather than later, that these techniques or others will become more available and more effective and will be another tool that can be used for the treatment of sleep apnea

[wally13]

dogluvr,

I just saw the Today show segment on new Robotic Surgery as a revolutionary cure for sleep apnea. It certainly looks like a viable option to CPAP. The policemen that they featured underwent a slep test and they immediately found that he had stopped breathing for 1 minute. He underwent this new type of surgery that removes the tissue in esophagal area that causes obstructive sleep apnea. Apparently he is now sleeping well and even lost weight.

Will have to see what comes of this new Robotic surgery as a solution for sleep apnea.

[guynemer]

dogluvr,

Did you catch the name of the place where this surgery is performed and/or the doctors who perform it?

Thanks,

Guy

[SleepyToo2]

Do a google search for "robotic surgery for sleep apnea". You might also want to put in your location. In my case, the University of Pennsylvania has a clinical trial going on at present. It requires about a 1-week stay in hospital, followed by another 3 weeks' recovery. You have to undergo an assessment first, so it is not suitable for everyone with sleep apnea. If you find somewhere in your area that is doing it, let us know how you get on!

[dogluvr]

@ Guy, I think the surgery they profiled on the 30-something police officer was done in New Jersey but I don't believe it actually mentioned a hospital. I need to do the Google search also to see if it is anywhere closer to me. Here's the link to it if you want to view the segment ..... http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/ ... 0#45461490 .

[fuzzy96]

interesting. they do surgery on robots????
i was working on a PHD in mechanics (post hole digger)

gotta love the english language
on a serious note- anytime you cut the human body (or parts thereof) there creates scar tissue. sometimes this can be developed to be worse than the original affliction. caution and long term study isprefeered

[VVV]

I just saw on NBC's the Today show, a new robotic surgery for sleep apnea sufferers. I think it is fairly new and of course, not for everyone, but it appears to be much more effective than the 'traditional' surgery for sleep apnea.

My wife called me and I turned on the TV in my office.

Did you see something that made you very suspicious about the report?

They kept comparing the surgery to tracheotomies for sleep apnea. It was mentioned more than once that the robotic surgery has big advantages over tracheotomies. Photos of a neck with a tracheostomy tube in place were shown more than once.

Now what the heck is that all about? Very few traches have been used for treatment of sleep apnea since the first UPPPs were done in the 1980s and also the use of CPAP started.

So they are comparing a fantastic new robotic surgery (skepticism and sarcasm intended) with a surgery that ceased to be used thirty years ago?

I would not get excited about robotic surgery without much more research into it. Would also like to see a followup on that dude in the report and hear from all the other guinea pigs.

Here is some good reading on the subject of surgery from Dr. Park - http://doctorstevenpark.com/sleep-apnea ... leep-apnea

[VVV]

If you care to watch the video and form your own opinions, the video is now posted here http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/ ... 0#45461490

[thomas thomas]

The sleep apnea surgery is done by Dr Adrianna Hekiert. ENT and Allergy Associates (ENTA)

[TORS doc]

TransOral Robotic Surgery (TORS) for sleep apnea offers advantages over many conventional procedures, including tracheotomy. Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP), which addresses only the elongated soft palate and tonsils, is only about 39% effective, but when combined with tonguebase reduction, sleep apnea cure rate significantly increases. TORS is the newest and the best way to physically remove the swelling in the back of the tongue that collapses during sleep and leads to airway obstruction. There are 2 Italian studies by Vicini et al that show promising results. In the US, no published articles so far, but from the data presented at national ENT meetings, TORS for OSA is truly exciting. The TODAY piece was misleading in a way as it compared TORS to tracheotomy and did not elaborate on other sleep apnea surgeries. It is definitively less invasive and offers quicker recovery over quite effective but not very popular maxillary-mandibular advancement (MMA) that requires cuts in the skin and jaw bone to advance jaw forward. As with any new procedure, longterm studies are needed to fully understand the full benefit.

Typical hospital stay is 2 days, the procedure takes about 1 hour. Sore throat goes away in 3 weeks. There are about 10 TORS sleep apnea surgeons in the country, many awaiting to be trained... There are many more TORS surgeons who treat head and neck cancer.

The procedure is reserved for patients who failed CPAP and are in good enough health to undergo any surgical procedure under general anesthesia.

To learn more about history of TORS for apnea, google Adrianna Hekiert-->click on About Us-->click on ENTA Magazine; latest issue has an informative article
Hope that helps!

[archangle]

I hope that they do figure out effective apnea surgery. It seems that we should be able to figure this out.

I think we probably WILL figure it out some day.

I hope that this is it.

Just remember that we've heard the "miracle" apnea surgery idea before. In several different versions. A lot of people have been butchered by chop happy doctors doing surgery that didn't help and had bad side effects.

[Pdm62068]

I'm having the surgery in 3 weeks. The surgery is only useful for tongue based obstructions. It doesn't work for any other types of sleep apnea. It's not a tracheotomy --- whoever said that didn't hear correctly --- this surgery is groundbreaking stuff that's had sucess rates of 80-90%. It started over in Italy and now Penn ( who aren't doing the study any longer ) and A few dr's in Ct,Nj,Wash Dc,Tenn,Indianapolis,Utah seem to be the only doctors doing it at this time. More doctors are learning. I only wish that my surgery was tommorow. I'm sick of yawning from the time I get up to the time I go to bed.

[NateS]

I'm having the surgery in 3 weeks. The surgery is only useful for tongue based obstructions. It doesn't work for any other types of sleep apnea. It's not a tracheotomy --- whoever said that didn't hear correctly --- this surgery is groundbreaking stuff that's had sucess rates of 80-90%. It started over in Italy and now Penn ( who aren't doing the study any longer ) and A few dr's in Ct,Nj,Wash Dc,Tenn,Indianapolis,Utah seem to be the only doctors doing it at this time. More doctors are learning. I only wish that my surgery was tommorow. I'm sick of yawning from the time I get up to the time I go to bed.

How do they decide whether you only have a tongue based obstruction?

Do you have to rely on the surgeon for that decision, or is there independent screening by a facility that offers all remedies for sleep apnea, and which then makes a recommendation as to which remedy is most likely to succeed for the patient's individual anatomic and related conditions?

Nate

[NightMonkey]

I'm having the surgery in 3 weeks. The surgery is only useful for tongue based obstructions. It doesn't work for any other types of sleep apnea. It's not a tracheotomy --- whoever said that didn't hear correctly --- this surgery is groundbreaking stuff that's had sucess rates of 80-90%. It started over in Italy and now Penn ( who aren't doing the study any longer ) and A few dr's in Ct,Nj,Wash Dc,Tenn,Indianapolis,Utah seem to be the only doctors doing it at this time. More doctors are learning. I only wish that my surgery was tommorow. I'm sick of yawning from the time I get up to the time I go to bed.

Are you saying that the surgery will only be performed on the tongue base?

You wrote the post below four weeks ago. How do you feel about that now?

I have sleep apnea. I was diagnosed 6 years ago I don't remember those results. I was non cpap complaint and I finally had a child and I'm just tired,run down and I'm on 43. I'm mildly overweight 235lb 5 11 1/2 --- anyway,I found a local doctor who does the davinci robot surgery but it's only for tongue based obstruction. I went to him and he ordered a sleep test and did the endoscope down my throat. He couldn't see my vocal cords ( he said I moved slightly during scope ) but he said I have massive amounts of tissue at the base of my tongue and this is exactly what the robot was designed for. I had my results -- mind you I was soooo sick when I went to this sleep study I had a cold that required antibiotics and I was sick for 2 weeks. The night of my study I was kinda lucky because previous and next night I has to have a 101-102 fever I sweated like I was running those nights. I thought I slept mostly on my side where basically I stopped breathing 5 times an hour I know which is mild and on my back I woke up 19 times an hour which is moderate. I followed up and basically he said I was a go for the surgery that I'm a perfect canidate. His surgical scheduler was out 2 days last week which I left a message and then called this am and she was on the phone and I left another message. I got mad and called at 3 and she answered and basically as no clue who I was lol so much for messages. She went to pull my file and she said Anthem has strict protocol on approval of this surgery. She read the 1st part of my file and was like it only says 5 times an hour and I told her yeah on my side but on my back it's 19 times an hour. She proceeded to give me the bull that oh I can submit it and it's maybe 50/50 they approve. She said if the didn't that the Dr would call personally anthem to the person who made the determination and explain why I need the surgery. I shouldn't have even asked this lady anything other then submit it because now I'm mad as anything because this dr said everyone who's had the surgery has had life changing experiences. I want to know does anyone know which numbers the insurance companies use ? The side number or the back number which is higher ?
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=73846&p=678372#p678372

If you don't mind let us know how things go for you.

Good luck,