HUKM's Breakthrough In Snoring Treatment

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 (Bernama) -- Though there is no data on snoring, it can cause discomfort to one's sleeping partner and sometimes it can be more embarrassing if celebrities and VIPs snored in public.
However, the phenomenon common in all age groups, both male and female, can now be overcome by a new technique called "pillar procedure".
The technique has been introduced in Malaysia by a leading provider of medical devices to treat sleep disordered breathing, Restore Asia Pte Ltd, through its company in Singapore.
The Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Hospital (HUKM) in Cheras is the first to adopt the technique.
Disclosing the technique Thursday, HUKM's Head of Ear, Nose and Throat Department, Prof Dr Abdullah Sani Mohamed, said snoring was divided into habitual snoring (without sleep apnoea) and snoring with sleep apnoea.
He said snoring was a sign of obstruction of the upper airway during sleep and sleep apnoea occurred when the obstruction was completed.
Sleep apnoea might be graded as mild, moderate and severe, he said.
Dr Abdullah Sani said HUKM offered and had performed the full range of surgery from aggressive uvulo palato pharyngo plasty and laser uvuloplasty to the newer radio frequency ablation techniques.
He said the ideal cure for snoring caused by flopiness of the soft palate was to stiffen it without doing any cutting of the tissue.
These could be done with the pillar procedure, he said.
The procedure was designed to reduce airway obstruction where three inserts made from multiple polyster materials woven together about 18mm in length and 2mm in diameter, embedded in the soft palate using a specially designed preload delivery tool, he said, adding the palate was neither cut nor removed.
"It can be done in less than 15 minutes in the clinic with minimal pain. The patient can go home with normal diet and daily activities almost immediately," he said.
The pillar procedure, first introduced in the United States in April 2003, is now available in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, South Korea, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa and Turkey.
Malaysia is the second country in Southeast Asia to start this innovative treatment.
Dr Abdullah Sani, who performed the technique on five patients this year, said the complication risk was very low.
He said the therapy costs between RM3,000 and RM4,000 at HUKM.
He performed the technique on his fifth patient today, Syaiful Izam Jabar, 26, a secondary school teacher in Melaka.
After the implant procedure, Syaiful Izam, who has been snoring since Standard Four, said he did not feel any pain and was glad for the RM2,200 treatment he underwent.