Tonsils ablation with plasma radiofrequency for treatment of obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome

Objective:To investigate the clinical efficacy of tonsils ablation with plasma radiofrequency on obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome(OSAHS). Methods: 45 patients with polysomnographically proven OSAHS were given radiofrequency ablation to their tonsils. The polysomnography examinations were carried out before and 12 weeks after radiofrequency operation respectively. The size of tonsils, snoring scale and Epworth sleepiness score(ESS) were also compared. Results:3～6months follow-up showed that the lowest pulse oxygen saturation improved significantly. In addition, there were significant differences in the decrease of apnea hypopnea index after operation(P0.05). 12 weeks after treatment, snoring scale and ESS decreased significantly(P0.01). Conclusions: Tonsils with plasma radiofrequency ablation at low temperature for OSAHS is effective. This treatment is convenient,simple,safe and minimally invasive without obvious adverse reactions. In the future, radiofrequency ablation has the potential to be one of the most popular surgical modalities for the treatment of tonsils.