DOES THE TONGUE CONTRIBUTE TO SNORING AND SLEEP APNEA? IF SO, HOW CAN THIS BE TREATED?

In some patients, an enlarged tongue base which relaxes during sleep may fall back in the oral airway (“hypopharynx”) and contribute to obstruction, turbulence and – ultimately – snoring and OSA. Surgeries to treat this area include a Midline glossectomy and – more recently – Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of the tongue base. Midline glossectomy is less commonly performed given the significant post-operative complications of bleeding, difficulty swallowing, and airway edema necessitating possible tracheostomy98. RFA of the tongue base appears to be reasonably affective for snoring in appropriate patients. It does; however, often require multiple treatments over a period of weeks to months before noticeable improvement is appreciated. Data does not seem to support the same efficacy of RFA for treatment of OSA with success rates reported under 40%99.