Soft Palate and Tongue in Sleep Surgery

Surgery to treat severe snoring is often a treatment for obstructive sleep apnea.Indications of surgical procedures include obesity, snoring unrelieved with position change, unrelieved with behavioral or lifestyle change, obstructive anatomic airway features, and sleep apnea. Not all surgical procedures are ideal for sleep apnea patients.
The surgical procedures used most commonly to relieve snoring and the dangerous effects of sleep apnea affect the soft palate. This is the area located in the upper back of the mouth cavity and could include the uvula and the area of the tonsils. For chronic snorers and sleep apnea sufferers, the airway can often be narrow due to excess soft palate tissue and enlarged tonsils. Soft Palate surgery is combined with tonsillectomy in most patients who have tonsils that have not previously been removed. Palate surgery (with or without tonsillectomy) is principally used to treat obstructive sleep apnea>