Injection Snoreplasty is a well proven and innovative technique for the treatment of snoring.

It involves a submucosal injection into the soft palate of a sclerosant (scarring agent) called which leads to stiffening of the soft palate. The procedure is done here in the rooms under local anaesthetic and we use a gargle and injection into the hard palate to numb your throat. The procedure takes 20 minutes or so and we classically do these injections on a Thursday with the patient back at work on the Monday. There is some discomfort with the injection and simple pain relief medications are prescribed. Some pain is common for up to 2 weeks after injection.

During the procedure 2mls of Fibrovein are injected into the area above the patients uvula.

Often people complain of a “golf ball” sensation at the back of the throat which lasts for less than 24 hours. The area injected can form a painless ulcer or change colour but then heals back to normal after 4 weeks. The palate is stiffer and less floppy and the full effect on snoring is usually present at 8 weeks, which is when the patient is reviewed.

Depending on the change in snoring achieved some patients require a second injection which involves two separate sites slightly higher up from the first injection. Snoreplasty is the cheapest surgical option for the right patient.

RF treatment is a new technology using radio waves to induce a thermal injury below the surface of the lining tissue in the soft palate, nose and the base of tongue. This thermal injury to the tissue leads to shrinking and scarring which creates a smaller stiffer site which in the throat leads to less collapse during sleep(snoring,OSA) and in the nose leads to a more open nasal airway. We now are using the Celon System by Olympus (http://www.celon.com/eng/index.php). I have this in my rooms as well as in the private hospitals for use under local anaesthesia or general. I was the first surgeon to be able to use this technology in ENT in NZ and have spoken at several international and domestic meetings on OSA and snoring surgery about it as well as selecting the right patients for which technique.

RF treatment is often done to the soft palate and nose and occasionally the tongue base here in our minor procedures room at Specialists at NINE. It costs more than Snoreplasty and the initial cost includes the handpiece which you get to keep and can be used again if needed. “Top Up” treatments may be necessary but are inexpensive. The pain is usually less than snoreplasty and can be repeated more times.

Surgery to the soft palate such as Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty(U3P) and Tonsillectomy have very high success rates for control of snoring, often quoted as greater than 80% for the right patient. The effect lasts longer than snoreplasty or RF but there can be a drop in effectiveness over 10 -20 years. I use a modified Z plasty technique for most surgeries but also palatal expansion techniques which have a higher success rate than classical U3P and create less pain.

Tongue base RF can be done at the same time using Coblation or Celon techniques to improve the chances further still for success. Surgery involves usually 1-2 days in hospital and 1-2 weeks off work. It is expensive though if you have Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) and then surgery may be covered under your health insurance. Snoreplasty and RF is designed for the control of simple snoring and this is usually not covered by medical insurance but is certainly cheaper than surgery, also treatment is out of hospital with minimal impact on your work.

Snoreplasty and RF are only effective if the bulk of your snoring is caused by palatal flutter. 80% of simple snoring is caused by palatal flutter with other causes such as large tongue base and floppy laryngeal cartilages being less common and much harder to treat surgically. Snoreplasty and RF are not very effective in moderate or severe OSA and should be used with caution in these situations. I recommend every person with loud snoring and daytime tiredness to undergo overnight airflow studies (level IVA or Level III) to help determine what spectrum of sleep disordered breathing they are in before commencing a treatment protocol. Overnight oximetry ( basic level IV studies) are usually not enough for me to decide what treatment may suit you. This can be coordinated through my rooms before or after your initial consultation to see whether you are a candidate for the procedure, or contact CANSLEEP 03 3795060