Perioperative Sleep Apnea:The Concerns Of Perioperative Sleep Apnea
September 16, 2008
Introduction:
Firstly it is essential to understand that sleep apnea is a kind of sleep disorder that is very deadly and harmful. There are several types of sleep apnea that can affect people and Perioperative sleep apnea is one amongst them. Lets us first have an insight to what is sleep apnea.
Understanding Sleep Apnea:
This deadly disease kills thousands and thousands of people every year. Sleep Apnea is something, which can affect anybody without any regard to the age, gender or race of the person. The highest risk factor points to people who are above forty years of age and suffer from obesity. The medication for sleep apnea needs to be taken life long, although it may differ from the individual conditions and medical history. Thus people who are obese and above forty needs to be extra careful and alert regarding the disease and they need to monitor its symptoms and start medication as soon as possible.
The Concerns Of Perioperative Sleep Apnea:
Sleep apnea can be difficult to diagnose, as many patients don’t realize that their symptoms may be the cause of a condition. Symptoms of sleep apnea include daytime drowsiness, snoring, headaches and even a sore throat in the morning. Many of these complaints can be written off as just temporary or not even noticed by a patient.
Hindrances in sleep apnea:
Generally Patients with sleep apnea have difficult time breathing during sleeping. Apnea is a Greek word that means, “Without breathe”. So for the people suffering from sleep apnea it is very important to speak to their doctor and take necessary advice and guidance from him.
For patients who are planning to go in for a surgery it is essential to find out if sleep apnea is really a problem. Perioperative sleep apnea can be a critical problem for anesthesiologists to deal with and they need to be made aware if sleep apnea is a concern. So if it is then patients can indeed go in for a surgery.
Finding Out If A Patient Is At Risk For Perioperative Sleep Apnea
The patients need to fill up and answer a questionnaire for their doctors in order to evaluate their risk for perioperative sleep apnea. An anestisialogist will conduct an interview with the patient to see if there are any possible risk factors for perioperative sleep apnea. Perioperative sleep apnea can be a huge problem during surgery as the patient is put to sleep and the muscles in the throat are relaxed causing this condition to occur. If there is some concern in regards to sleep apnea this can be closely monitored to avoid complications from this disorder.
Procedure After The surgery:
The Doctor or the surgeon minutely observes the patients after the surgery is performed in order to make sure that their throat doesn’t swell causing them to stop breathing. A Continuous Positive Air Pressure machine may be used to keep the airway open. This machine pumps oxygen straight into the airways through a mask that is placed over the patient’s nose. The constant pressure keeps the airway open and oxygen flowing appropriately. Thus at this stage the condition often patient is critical and he needs to be taken care of.
Summary:
If you suffer from anything that remotely resembles sleep apnea, immediately have it checked and start the medication as prescribed. Help is available once the right diagnosis is made and hopefully, with the right treatment and medication you would be able to fight this problem square on. Thus it your own duty to be true an honest to your doctor and take the guidance in the right perspective.
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