Expansion sphincter pharyngoplasty in OSA: a 15 year review.

Objective: A 15 year review of the outcomes and success rates of the Expansion Sphincter Pharyngoplasty (ESP) in the treatment of patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Methods: A systemic review with two independent searches of MEDLINE, Google Scholar, Cochrane Library and Evidence-Based Medicine Reviews to identify publications relevant to OSA and Expansion Pharyngoplasty. All relevant studies published before 31 December 2021 were included.

Results: Sixteen studies were included in this strict systematic review with a total of 747 patients who had the ESP procedure were included. The mean age was 41.3 years, mean BMI 28.2, the mean pre-op AHI was 32.3 and post-op AHI was 10.0 (p < 0.05), the mean pre-op ESS was 11.4, had reduced to post-op 5.3 (p < 0.05), and the mean pre-op snore VAS decreased from 8.7 to 2.9 (p < 0.05), with a mean follow-up time of 9.5 months. The overall pooled success rate for all the 747 patients was 80.0%. There were no significant reported complications noted in these studies.

Conclusion: After 15 years of presence, the expansion sphincter pharyngoplasty has shown to be reliably effective in the management of patients with OSA.