Quality of life improvement after Obstructive Sleep Apnea treatment: Continuous Positive Airway Pressure versus Multilevel Transoral Robotic Surgery.

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study has been to analyze effects on Quality of Life (QoL) of the multilevel surgery for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). Also, we have compared the impact on QoL of two different treatments for patients with moderate to severe OSA such as CPAP and transoral robotic surgery (TORS). Design: 67 OSA patients who underwent multilevel robotic surgery and 67 OSA patients treated with CPAP were enrolled in a Group 1 and Group 2 respectively. The Glasgow Benefit Inventory (GBI) questionnaire has been administrated to all patients to evaluate the changes in the QoL after the different OSA treatment. Respiratory outcomes pre and post treatment were evaluated and compared. Results: Group 1 showed a GBI total average value of +30.4, whereas the group 2 a value of +33.2 . No statistical difference emerged (p=0.4). General benefit score showed no difference between groups (p = 0.1). Better values of social status benefit (p= 0.0006) emerged in CPAP Group, whereas greater physical status benefit (p=0.04) was showed in TORS Group. Delta-AHI (-23.7 ± 14.3 vs -31.7 ± 15.6; p = 0.001), Delta-ODI (-24.5 ± 9.5 vs. -29.4 ±10.5; p = 0.001) showed better values in CPAP group. Therapeutic success rate of Multilevel TORS Group was 73.1% and 91% in CPAP group (p = 0.01) respectively. Conclusion: Multilevel TORS and CPAP have a positive effect in quality of life of OSA patients. Greater social support has been reported in CPAP group and better physical health status in TORS group.