The influence of acute morphine use on obstructive sleep apnea: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Abstract

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is characterised by recurrent episodes of partial or complete upper airway collapse during sleep, resulting in reduced (hypopnea) or absent (apnea) airflow lasting for ≥10 s and associated with either cortical arousal or a fall in blood oxygen saturation (Gottlieb & Punjabi, 2020). OSA is a global disease, and undiagnosed OSA is prevalent in anywhere between 21% and 28% of surgical patients (Chung et al., 2008;Finkel et al., 2009). This is important, as together with the effects of sedatives and anaesthetics on upper airway tone and respiratory drive, OSA