Figure 1.
Schematic diagram (CONSORT 2010 flowchart diagram) summarizing the study design.
AHI: apnea-hypopnea index. PI: palatal implant; RF, radiofrequency. SOS: snoring outcomes survey. VAS: visual analogue scale.
Figure 2.
Favorable anatomy for the MIS of the soft palate in anti-snoring treatment.
(A) Frontal view showing the longitudinal length from the uvular base to the hard palate-soft palate junction ≥ 2.5 cm and the lateral width of the uvular base ≥ 1.0 cm. (B) Lateral view illustrating the anterior-posterior width of the uvular base ≥ 1.0 cm.
Figure 3.
(A) Preoperative frontal view demonstrating the 3 operative sites of the soft palate (0.5 cm below the hard palate-soft palate junction; 0.2 cm between the midline and para-midline sites). (B) Postoperative frontal view showing the stiffened zone (grey zone) by the implant (1.8 cm×0.94 cm).
Figure 4.
(A) Preoperative frontal view illustrating the 3 operative sites of the soft palate (1.0 cm below the hard palate-soft palate junction; 1.0 cm between the midline and para-midline sites). (B) Postoperative frontal view demonstrating the stiffened zone (grey zone) by the RF energy (1.0 cm×2.6 cm).
Table 1.
Patient characteristics for the entire study cohort (n = 30).
Table 2.
Comparison of the postoperative changes in subjective questionnaire scores between the palatal implant and radiofrequency surgery groups.
Table 3.
Objective snoring sound parameters at baseline for the entire study cohort (n = 30).
Table 4.
Results of objective snoring sound parameters before and after treatment in the two groups.