Conclusions
OSAS is the most common and best-recognized form of SRBD. Effective treatment is available with CPAP being the treatment of choice, once the essential nonspecific measures of excluding endocrine and other treatable causes, including weight loss and avoiding sedative agents have been undertaken. The expense of CPAP apparatus and the need to use this for prolonged period may prompt some patients to evaluate other sub-optimal options. Surgical treatment will continue to be a gamble or a treatment of last resort. Whatever plan is developed, it is important that the patient be reassessed after six months and then by annual PSGs.
The potential population of snorer / apneic patients is so wide and the cost of the proper care so high that the field is ripe for abuses. The confusion between symptoms of snoring and the incidence of SRBD has compounded this proliferation. Cut-rate care that cuts corners is often more expensive in the long run. Interested readers should be aware of the potential inappropriate applications of surgical treatment, especially LAUP, and be alerted to the best medical interests of their patients.
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