Search:

Potential Complications From Sleep Apnea Surgery

By: Rudy Watkins. People suffering from sleep apnea have a hard time to breathe while sleeping. Apnea is Greek for "without breath". There could be many causes for your sleep apnea so it's important to discuss it with your doctor to get it diagnosed. With sleep apnea, you can actually stop breathing for as long as ten seconds and it usually happens because brain signals that control breathing are interrupted or because the throat muscles relax enough that the airway narrows.

Sleep apnea can be difficult to diagnose as many patients don't realize that their symptoms may be the cause of a condition. Symptoms of sleep apnea include daytime drowsiness, snoring, headaches and even a sore throat in the morning. Many of these complaints can be written off as just temporary or not even noticed by a patient.

If you are considering having any type of surgery, you should find out if sleep apnea puts you at any other risk. Anesthesiologists need to be aware if there is an added problem of sleep apnea as it could be a major concern.

Finding Out If A Patient Is At Risk For Perioperative Sleep Apnea

To evaluate the risk for perioperative sleep apnea, the patient should fill out a questionnaire. The anesthesiologist will talk with the patient to see if they are at risk for perioperative sleep apnea.

Because the patient is put to sleep for surgery, the throat muscles relax causing perioperative apnea to occur. This will be a major concern. If the doctor is aware of any previous problem with sleep apnea, he will monitor closely to avoid any complications.

A patient at risk for perioperative sleep apnea will also need to be closely monitored after the surgery to make sure that their throat doesn't swell causing them to stop breathing. A Continuous Positive Air Pressure machine may be used to keep the airway open. This machine pumps oxygen straight into the airways through a mask that is placed over the patient's nose. The constant pressure keeps the airway open and oxygen flowing appropriately.

If a patient does have some signals that perioperative sleep apnea will be an issue, the proper medical responses can be put into place to prevent any problems during surgery. Be honest in your interview with the doctors so that they are aware of any potential problems.

Article Source: http://www.lifeweightloss.com

Are you wondering what is sleep apnea? Get more information about the condition and some of its cures and treatments on the Apnea Guide website at www.apneaguide.com

Please Rate this Article

Not yet Rated