Obstructive sleep apnea is a common disorder with many possible etiologies. Surgical therapy is aimed at reducing or eliminating an area of airway stenosis that predisposes patients to obstructive sleep apnea. Expansion sphincter pharyngoplasty consists of transecting the palatopharyngeus and reinserting it into the lateral soft palate and periosteum of the pterygoid hamulus to widen the pharyngeal airway.
DOI #: https://doi.org/10.17797/i9jgkva8m4
Expansion sphincter pharyngoplasty.
Clarification: Two suture methods are shown in a drawing in the video and either stitch can be used to secure the palatopharyngeal pedicle
o Symptomatic obstructive sleep apnea
o Obstruction located at the level of the velopharynx and accompanying lateral walls. This site determination is based on evaluations such as drug-induced sedated endoscopy and Friedman tongue position.
o Inability to tolerate or improve with positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy
o No improvement of symptoms with weight loss, oral appliance, or other non-surgical modalities
o No absolute contraindications
o Relative indications include high perioperative risk, anticoagulation and bleeding risk, poor nutritional status, pre-existing dysphagia or xerostomia, velopharyngeal insufficiency, or occupation dependent on pharyngeal function
Tools necessary include tonsillectomy set, monopolar needle-tip cautery, toothed forceps, right angle clamp, kittners on tonsillectomy forceps, Metzenbaum scissors, Haney needle driver, 2-0 polysorb sutures for muscle suspension, and 4-0 chromic sutures for mucosal closure
Workup begins with a detailed history of sleeping difficulties. Gold standard for diagnosis is polysomnography with AHI > 5 or RDI > 5 and the patient has documented symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea. Sleep endoscopy is then utilized to determine anatomic location of obstruction to guide which treatment modality would be best effective.
o Insertion of palatopharyngeus into the soft palate
o Superior constrictors in lateral tonsillar fossa
o Pterygoid hamulus and buccopharyngeal raphe as anchors for muscle pedicle
o Main advantage over non-surgical therapy is anatomic widening of airway to provide larger airway without the use of appliances or PAP therapy. Advantage over classic uvulopalatalpharyngoplasty is that expansion sphincter pharyngoplasty is more reconstructive rather than excisional that improves effectiveness and decreases potential morbidities.
o Disadvantages include all surgical risks
o Standard operative risks: bleeding, infection, possible need for further surgery
o Velopharyngeal insufficiency
o Dysphagia
o Standard operative risks: bleeding, infection, possible need for further surgery
o Velopharyngeal insufficiency
o Dysphagia
None
1. o Dedhia RC, Soose RJ. Advanced Palatal Surgery. Myers & Snyderman (Eds) Operative Otolaryngology, 3rd edition.
2. Pang KP, Pang EB, Win MT, Pang KA, Woodson BT. Expansion sphincter pharyngoplasty for the treatment of OSA: a systemic review and meta-analysis. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2016;273(9):2329-2333.
This video shows a transotic approach for a cochlear schwannoma in a 59-year-old female who presented with sudden sensorineural hearing loss in her left three years prior. She was found to have subsequent growth of her tumor on imaging and elected to undergo surgery. The transotic approach is a valuable approach within the armamentarium of a skull base team and differs from the transcochlear approach in the handling of the facial nerve. Techniques for ear canal overclosure, eustachian tube packing and mastoid obliteration are also highlighted.
Here, we have a 39 yrs old female with complaints of noisy breathing for last two years post thyroidectomy. Flexible laryngoscopy confirmed bilateral vocal cord paralysis. She was planned for coblation assisted cordectomy.
Patient was taken up for procedure under general anaesthesia. She also started having stridor after induction. Nasopharyngeal intubation with spontaneous breathing technique was used. Entropy leads were placed over forehead to monitor the depth of anaesthesia. Tube position was confirmed with endoscopic view and Benjamin lindohlm laryngoscope was suspended. As the patient was spontaneously breathing, the stridor became more prominent, with stable vitals and the procedure was continued. The vocal cord retractor was fixed and coblation wand was then used with 7:3 settings for ablation and coagulation respectively. The surgical limits were-anteriorly the junction between ant 2/3 and post 1/3 of the vocal cord, posteriorly just anterior to the vocal process of arytenoid to prevent cartilage exposure and post operative granulations. Superely till the ventricle and inferioly till the medial most surface of the subglottis. Laterally approx. 5 mm depth was defined to prevent injury to the superior laryngeal artery branch and further bleeding. Once the final airway was achieved , the topical lignocaine was used to prevent laryngeal spasm post extubation.
The patient was shifted to the ward without oxygen, the voice was assessed on post op day 2.
Patient was called for follow up on post op day 14th and good voice outcomes were achieved.
So lets have a look on some tips & tricks for the safe procedure—–
Nasopharyngeal insufflation technique with entropy monitor will give adequate and safe surgical field
2. Appropriate exposure will help you to delineate the surgical margins
3. Topical anaesthesia before and after the procedure will prevent sudden laryngeal spasm
4. Firm holding of coblation device will help to prevent injury to surrounding structures like anterior 2/3 vocal cord, opposite side vocal cord, medial surface of vocal cord or aryteroid posteriorly
5. Do not ablate more laterally to prevent bleeding, if at all it happens, use patties or coagulation switch for hemostasis.
6. And at the end of the procedure ,use catheter suction to suck out blood clots or saline from the airway if any….
To Conclude-Coblation Assisted Cordectomy( CAC) can be performed safely with good outcomes in case of bilateral vocal cord paralysis using tubeless anesthesia technique without tracheostomy !
We present the harvest of a osteocutaneous fibula free flap for head and neck reconstruction performed at the University of Cincinnati. This reconstructive technique has a wide variety of implications but has found greatest utility in the reconstruction of mandibular defects.
Review Expansion Sphincter Pharyngoplasty.