Transoral robotic surgery for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome: 9 years of experience

Objective To investigate the efficacy of transoral robotic surgery (TORS) in the treatment of Obstructive sleep apnoea patients (OSA). Study design Retrospective study performed at a tertiary referral hospital. Methods The results of 270 patients who underwent TORS procedure for OSA at our center between March 2008 and March 2017 were assessed for the change in AHI, compared to pre operative AHI and the most common complications faced intra operatively and post operatively were assessed. Results There was 50% reduction in AHI in 76.6% of the patients post operatively. The mean hospital stay duration was 5 days after the surgery. Post operative bleeding is the main dreaded complication, which we saw in 4.2% of our patients but only 1.7% of them required surgical intervention to stop the bleeding. The procedure is considered safe as the benefits clearly outweigh the post operative complications. Conclusion In selected patients, using a robot for tongue base resection or partial epiglottectomy, is really useful for treatment of patients with OSA and these areas of the human body are very difficult to visualize and operate, unless a robot is used. It was found that using a robot is not only useful, but also safe with proper training and better techniques can be developed in future. © Springer Science + Business Media New York 2017.