Effectiveness of nasal surgery alone on sleep quality, architecture, position, and sleep-disordered breathing in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome with nasal obstruction

Background: The goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of nasal surgery alone on sleep quality, architecture, position, and sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) (including obstructive apnea and snoring) in adult patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) and nasal obstruction. Methods: A total of 22 consecutive male patients (mean age, 41.3 +/- 10.9 years) with OSAS and nasal obstruction, who underwent nasal surgery alone, were enrolled in the study. We compared polysomnographic data related with sleep quality (sleep efficiency [SE] and arousal index [ArI]), sleep architecture (stages N [nonrapid eye movement], 1, 2, and 3, and R [rapid eye movement]), the distribution of sleep positions, and SDB (apnea-hypopnea index [AHI], apnea index [AI], minimum arterial oxygen saturation [SaO(2)], and snoring) before and after nasal surgery. Results: SE (from 86.6 +/- 6.3% to 89.7 +/- 7.1%; p = 0.039), stage R (from 15.3 +/- 4.8% to 18.6 +/- 5.4%; p = 0.016) and snoring (from 32.2 +/- 16.4% to 25.8 +/- 18.6%; p = 0.045) significantly changed after nasal surgery. However, there were no significant changes in ArI, other sleep stages, the proportion of sleep time spent in the supine position, AHI, AI, and minimum SaO(2) after nasal surgery. Conclusion: Nasal surgery alone was partially effective in improving sleep quality, architecture, and snoring, but it had no effect on the change of the distribution of sleep positions and obstructive apnea in patients with OSAS and nasal obstruction. (Am J Rhinol Allergy 25, 338-341, 2011; doi: 10.2500/ajra.2011.25.3654)