BACKGROUND. Drug-Induced Sleep Endoscopy (DISE) is a sleep apnea diagnostic procedure which allows direct view the obstruction while inducing sleep using analgosedation with propofol. Many studies highlighted the importance of DISE in finding the level of obstruction and choosing the specific treatment.
MATERIAL AND METHODS. We performed DISE under propofol sedation in 27 patients diagnosed with sleep apnea who addressed to our clinic for further investigation and treatment. We assessed the obstruction type and severity using the Fujita scale, VOTE (velum, oropharynx, tongue base, epiglottis) and NOHL (nose, oropharynx, hypopharynx, larynx). Finally, we correlated the DISE findings with the polysomnographic results.
RESULTS. We observed significant correlations between the obstruction severity seen at DISE and the polysomnographic results. Further, we could decide the appropriate treatment for our patients, whether surgical or not (continuous positive airway pressure - CPAP).
CONCLUSION. Sleep endoscopy represents a very important method in establishing the topographic diagnostic of sleep apnea patients, being useful for the therapeutic decision and the postoperative assessment. We recommend drug-induced sleep endoscopy as elective investigation regarding the diagnostic and treatment of sleep apnea patients.
