Sleep Endoscopy
A sleep endoscopy is carried out to determine the cause of snoring. Various parts of the airways will be examined by the ENT specialist with an endoscope.
When do you need this procedure?
When you want to know what your options are to do something about your snoring and/or sleep apnea, you can submit to an endoscopy. Or when you already underwent a sleep study and no appropriate solution was found.
How does a sleep endoscopy work
You will be put under sedation. When you are asleep, an examination will be performed in which a number of aspects will be looked at:
- In what part of the airways does the snoring arise?
- Is the air way closed off?
- Is there a decrease in blood oxygen level?
- Is it possible to improve the air flow by adjusting the sleeping position or the position of the jaw?
During this examination the specialist will insert an endoscope to examine your nose, pharynx, tonsils, soft palate, tongue, epiglottis and vocal cords.
The results of the sleep endoscopy enable the ENT specialist to give advice about further treatment. Possibilities are among others:
- A snoring splint (MAS)
- Surgery such as UPPP/ZPP
- Recommendation of sleeping with a CPAP (sleeping mask)
