Loud snoring. Gasping for air. Feeling tired after getting plenty of sleep. Nearly one in every 15 adults in the U.S. suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, a common sleep disorder that causes the airway to collapse and breathing to be repeatedly interrupted throughout the night.
The first line of defense for individuals with this condition is a treatment known as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), a machine that helps push air into the lungs and keep the airway open. Unfortunately, as many as half of those who use the machine do not have success, and look to surgery as an alternative to CPAP to treat their sleep apnea. But what surgery is the right one for the patient? Drug-induced sleep endoscopy helps to answer this question.
Known as DISE, this advanced diagnostic tool allows sleep surgeons to assess the anatomy of the upper airway in 3D under sleep-like conditions. Studies have shown that the evaluation technique, which has become increasingly popular over the last 10 years, improves surgical outcomes in patients that do not respond to CPAP.
How does DISE help patients with sleep apnea?
Courtney Chou, MD
“Every individual’s anatomy is different,” explains Courtney Chou, MD, a sleep surgeon in the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who specializes in treating patients with obstructive sleep apnea. It is her job is to figure out what is blocking the patient’s flow of air. In some patients, for example, the base of the tongue or the soft tissue palate collapses, which then causes the airway to close.
“DISE allows us to locate the sites of obstruction in individuals with sleep apnea and figure out a plan to alleviate these blockages,” says Dr. Chou. “There are several different types of sleep surgeries, and DISE really helps determine which one will benefit the patient the most.”
According to a recent study in Sleep and Breathing, the results of DISE changed the surgeon’s original treatment plan as much as 75 percent of the time. In the past, surgeons relied only on medical history, patient evaluation, and the results of a standard sleep study to decide on the best intervention.
“In general, sleep surgeries are quite successful for patients with obstructive sleep apnea. We really try to meet each individual’s needs. When we are deciding on a surgery, it is important to think about what the patient’s main complaint is—are they snoring so much that it affects their bed partner, or is their oxygen saturation dangerously low?” she explains. “It is also important to consider how severe their sleep apnea is on their sleep study. But the key to identifying the intervention that is going to be maximally effective is understanding the patient’s anatomy. DISE is an important piece of the puzzle that helps us do that.”
In rare cases, DISE can also be used to troubleshoot nonsurgical therapies. If a patient is having some benefit with CPAP or an oral appliance, DISE may be used to evaluate if there is a tweak that could make the current treatment more effective or improve their ability to tolerate it.
What should patients expect during the procedure?
DISE is a minimally invasive, same-day procedure that is well tolerated by most patients. However, people who are pregnant, allergic to sedatives, or have severe cardiopulmonary disease that would prevent them from having surgery would not be candidates for DISE.
On the day of the surgery, after the patient checks in, they will meet with an anesthesiologist for a short evaluation. Afterward, a sedative will be administered intravenously. Once the patient is asleep, a sleep surgeon will place a thin flexible scope into one nostril that passes through to the upper airway. This scope has a small camera on the end that sends 3D real-time videos back to a monitor, allowing the surgeon to visualize exactly where and how the airway is collapsing while the patient is sleeping. The patient is then taken to a recovery room as the sedative wears off.
The procedure takes 30 minutes to an hour, is not uncomfortable, and patients do not deal with side effects besides post-surgery drowsiness, which means they will need a ride home after the procedure.
“Sleep is so critically important to our health,” says Dr. Chou. “With tools like DISE, Mount Sinai can help those who are struggling find the right plan and not suffer in silence.”