Der Einsatz der Stimulationstherapie der oberen Atemwege in Deutschland

Selective upper airway stimulation represents a new therapy for patients with obstructive sleep apnea. In recent years, the evidence supporting this therapy has continuously increased, whereas German implantation centers were involved or initiated investigations on various aspects of the stimulation therapy. Since the first implantation of an upper airway stimulation system in Germany in 2009, the persistent effect on the severity of the obstructive sleep apnea and on the subjective sensation of daytime sleepiness has been confirmed. Investigations into the effect on the sleep architecture revealed a decrease of the N1 amount of sleep and signs of a REM-rebound during the titration night could be gathered. The evaluation of the adherence to therapy resulted in an average of 5.7 h per night. In further examinations insights on the mechanism of upper airway stimulation could be gathered. With increasing application of upper airway stimulation, exact knowledge on hypoglossal nerve anatomy became essential. Therefore, a classification system for the surgical anatomy of the hypoglossal nerve was created. The direct effect on the upper airways is evaluated with different modalities.