	*Atlanta Center For ENT*
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Problem Snoring

All snoring is caused by a partial obstruction to the flow of air somewhere between the nose and vocal cords. There are four sites where airway obstruction may occur.

The nose (nasal obstruction)
The nasopharynx which is directly behind the nose
Oropharynx which includes the visible thrsils
Base of the tongue

NASAL AIRWAY OBSTRUCTION:

Nasal airway obstruction is most commonly caused by a deviated nasal septum or by enlarged turbinate tissue. The nasal septum is the nasal bone that separates the two nasal cavities, this bone can be shifted or deviated to one side or the other or both. Turbinate tissue is the tissue lying within the nose, which can become enlarged and fill the entire airway.

NASOPHARYNX:

Nasopharyngeal airway obstruction is most commonly caused by overgrowth of adenoid tissue.

OROPHARYNX:

Oropharynx airway obstruction is usually due to an enlarged palate and uvula or due to enlarged tonsils.

BASE OF TONGUE:

The base of the tongue may relax during sleep and fall back against the throat wall and obstruct the flow of air. This is the only type of snoring that cannot be remedied by surgery

All the other causes can easily be remedied by outpatient surgery. In order to determine the cause of a persons snoring is to perform a flexible fiberoptic video nasal endoscopy. This examination is very simple and painless and can easily determine which point in the airway is obstructed. There may be one or more points that are obstructed. When each area of obstruction is relieved, the patient's snoring either disappears or is markedly improved, in the vast majority of cases.

UVULOPALATOPLASTY

Many patient's snoring is due to obstruction by the soft palate and uvula. This is remedied by shortening the uvula and making small incisions on either side which cause the uvula to retract upward during healing and move out of the airway. This can require one or more procedures for each individual, each patient is different. In the event that a patient requires more than one procedure, they must be done at least six to eight weeks apart to allow time for the full retraction of the palate to occur between each procedure.

The uvulopalatoplasty can be done with either laser or micro-cautery, in either case the result is the same. If a patient has more than one location of airway obstruction, each location of airway obstruction is repaired at the same time, as an outpatient. Most insurance companies will not cover uvulopalatoplasty surgery performed for the correction of snoring, however most companies will cover the surgery to correct other forms of airway obstruction. We hope this information is helpful to you. If you have any question, please write them down and ask the doctor during your consultation.