Septoplasty Surgery for Excessive or Chronic Snoring

Snoring is caused by the turbulent flow of air through the respiratory system's upper airway. This can arise from transient obstruction at varying levels or segments. This multi-level/segmental obstruction may occur in different areas of the pharynx and at varying proportions in individuals. For some patients, snoring is predominantly nasopharngeal and palatal, while, for others, it may be hypopharyngeal or retroglossal.

Obstruction of the airway occurs when the upper airway dilator muscles fail to stabilize air passage during sleep. Nerve stimulation of these dilator muscles is complex and is largely subject to reflex control. Trauma to the upper airway tissues during sleep apnea and snoring damages the muscle fibers or the peripheral nerve fibers, impairing the stabilizing action of the muscles and increasing the tendency of obstruction.

Surgical treatments targeted at the various anatomical regions in the upper airway can help address excessive and chronic snoring. Because a deviated septum can greatly affect the quality of airflow through the nasal cavity, it may also cause turbulent airflow through an individual's upper airways, making snoring worse. Nasal surgeries like septoplasty, turbinate reduction, and functional endoscopic sinus surgery may be effective if the cause of chronic snoring stems from nasal obstruction and/or nasal abnormalities.

Septoplasty involves the removal of excess cartilage and bone in order to even out the breathing space between the nostrils. In many cases, rhinoplasty is combined with the procedure in order to improve the appearance of the nose. Septoplasty and rhinoplasty combined is called septorhinoplasty, but the first may also be done with other upper airway surgeries, like sinus surgery.

Repairing a deviated septum can have numerous benefits, but fully recovered patients mostly enjoy the ability to breathe more freely, as this operation effectively clears out the nasal airways, thus helping prevent nasal congestions, chronic headaches, nasal disorders, and excessive snoring. Overall improvement in the quality of sleep is also a major benefit as septoplasty helps purge breathing gaps due to nasal obstruction.

Septoplasty is a relatively short and straightforward procedure that lasts an hour or so. A few hours of post surgery observation is often all you will need before you can be released home. Protecting the area is important in order to stabilize the septum. Sutures, splints or stitches are usually used to help keep the septum in its proper alignment and patients are typically asked to return after one week to remove the packing and examine the results of the surgery.

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