The role of drug-induced sleep endoscopy: predicting and guiding upper airway surgery for adult OSA patients.

PURPOSE: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common sleep disorder that can be corrected with upper airway surgery. Prior to surgery, drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) is routinely used to evaluate obstruction sites and severity. Evidence suggests that the findings of DISE may relate to the final surgical outcome. Therefore, we evaluated the ability of drug-induced sleep endoscopy to predict the final effect of upper airway surgery and potentially to guide surgical treatment decision-making. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 85 adult patients with OSA (50 men with mean apnea-hypopnea index [AHI] 30 ± 15 events/h) who underwent DISE followed by tonsillectomy, uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP), or a combination of the two. Surgery outcome was evaluated at follow-up by polysomnography. Success response to surgery was defined as a postoperative value of the AHI< 20 events/h and more than 50% postoperative reduction of AHI. RESULTS: Of the 85 patients evaluated, 48 (53%) were responders. DISE revealed significant differences between the two groups. Specifically, complete circumferential collapse at the velum and complete anterior-posterior collapse at the tongue base occurred at higher frequencies in nonresponders. In contrast, the presence of grade 3-4 tonsillar hypertrophy and anterior-posterior mild/partial collapse at the velum were positively associated with responders. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that DISE may help predict the final outcome of tonsillectomy, UPPP, or a combination of the two in adult patients with OSA. The use of DISE shows potential to guide treatment decisions for individual patients with OSA.