Injection snoreplasty

Sleep-disordered breathing is a spectrum of diseases that includes snoring, upper airway resistance syndrome (UARS) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Snoring is caused by vibration of the structures in the oral cavity and oropharynx-namely, the soft palate, uvula, tonsils, base of tongue, epiglottis and pharyngeal walls. Sleep-disordered breathing encompasses simple snorers (patients who snore without excessive daytime somnolence and with a normal apnea-hypopnea index, AHI), UARS (patients with excessive daytime somnolence but a normal AHI) and OSA (patients who snore and have both excessive daytime somnolence and an abnormal AHI). A multitude of techniques have been introduced to treat snoring. The basis of each method is to create scar tissue, to incite fi brosis and to stiff en the palate. This decreases the vibration of the palate and diminishes snoring, with the intention of reduced collapsibility and therefore fewer apneic episodes. Sodium tetradecyl sulfate (STS) has been used as a sclerosing agent to stiff en the palate. It has a longstanding excellent safety record for the treatment of varicose veins, and it has very low cost.