Adjustable oral appliances improve mild to moderate OSAHS

Objective: To study the Fixing ruler aid half-finished adjustable oral appliances(AOA)for mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). Methods:20 cases of mild to moderate OSAHS were treated with AOA,After one to three months, examine again of subjective symptoms and Polysomnography (PSG), upper airway CT examination for the patient, with and without the AOA respectively. Results: After one to three months of using the AOA, the subjective symptoms of the OSAHS patients including excessive daytime sleepness and snoring and awaking(gasping or choking) were improved evidently.ESS scocrs were improved from 8.6±2.6 to 4.6±2.1 .There were singnificant diffenrence in apnea -hypopnea index(AHI, 21.2±10.6 events/h vs 8.9±3.1 events/h) , apnea index (AI events/h, 12.8±9.3 vs 2.3±1.8 ),Max apnea time (MAX, 45.1±11.9min vs 20.2±6.9min) and lowest SaO2 (LSaO2, 76.6±5.2 vs 89.1±3.4).We also found the collapse were improved in uvula palatine plane(0.60±0.07 vs 0.15±0.14) and opistho-tongue plane (0.56±0.08 vs 0.25±0.24). And there wer little complaint after wearing AOA. Conclusion:AOA is an effective alternative to patients of OSAHS and the upper airway structure become more normal after wearing AOA.

Key words: Obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome;adjustable oral appliances;upper airway