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.