Nasopharyngeal Stent
Nasopharyngeal Stent An alternative to CPAP therapy is mechanical splinting of the throat with a nasopharyngeal stent. During inhalation the soft tissue and the relaxed throat muscles, especially in the region of the soft palate, is sucked together which leads to airway obstruction. The opening force of the generally soft stent braid provenly prevents airway obstructions, e.g. as exemplified in numerous sleep video endoscopies. In another clinical testing in the sleep lab the therapeutic efficacy has been confirmed. The stent is self-applied by the patient before sleep and removed in the morning, then cleaned and stored for next use. In addition to the simple handling, independence from pumps, masks and electric current are significant advantages.
A nasal stent, which is positioned only in the nose and splints the full length of the nasal passage, in first case reports has shown to lead to a relevant improvement of sleep apnea. In other cases this nasal stent is combined with CPAP therapy in order to prevent swelling of the turbinates under the CPAP-generated airstream. This leads to an increased therapeutic efficacy of CPAP. The use of nasal dilators to facilitate CPAP therapy is recommended in the German ENT Guideline for treatment of sleep apnea.
Stent 1: Nasopharyngeal stent Stent 2: Long nasal stent Stent 3: Short nasal stent
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