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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2024 Jan 1.
Published in final edited form as: Int Forum Allergy Rhinol. 2023 Mar 30;13(7):1061–1482. doi: 10.1002/alr.23079

TABLE IX.D.5.e.

Evidence on lingual tonsillectomy for OSA

Study Year LOE Study design Study groups Clinical end-point Conclusion
Miller et al.1829 2017 2a SR and
meta-analysis		 Adult patients with OSA (n = 353) 1. AHI
2. Epworth Sleepiness Scale
3.O2 nadir
4. Snoring visual
analogue scale
5. Surgical success rate (AHI reduction >50% and to <20 events/h)
6. Cure rate (AHI < 5)		 TORS BOT reduction decreases AHI (44.3 ± 22.4 to 17.8 ± 16.5, p < 0.01) and symptoms of sleepiness (ESS: 12.9 ± 5.4 to 5.8 ± 37, p < 0.01) and is considered successful in a majority (68.4%) of cases.
Samutsakorn et al.1830 2017 2a SR and meta-analysis Adult patients with OSA with multilevel obstruction
(n = 107)		 1. AHI
2. O2 nadir
3. Epworth Sleepiness Scale		 Lingual tonsillectomy with palatal surgery reduces AHI by 18.5 events/h (p = 0.006), increases O2 nadir (mean increase: 5.3, p = 0.05), and reduces daytime sleepiness (mean reduction: 5.4, p = 0.001) in select patients with OSA.