Nerve Stimulation for Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Hypoglossal nerve stimulation implant surgical procedure is an outpatient process finished underneath basic anesthesia. It sometimes takes two to a few hours.

To implant the Encourage system, the surgeon will make an incision underneath your jaw to wrap the stimulation electrode across the hypoglossal nerve, then a second incision in your chest to put the respiratory sensor and pulse generator. A wire is tunneled underneath the pores and skin to attach the components.

The Genio process requires a single incision underneath your chin to implant the nerve stimulator.

Neither system is activated instantly after the process. For Encourage, you’ll sometimes wait six weeks to permit the implant web site and surrounding nerve to heal, Verma says. For Genio, you’ll wait eight weeks.

The Encourage system is often activated within the sleep medication doctor’s workplace. “We slowly introduce a really minimal voltage and see what the affected person’s response is. Are they sensing it? Then we slowly advance the settings till the affected person can really feel it,” Verma says. You’ll use that setting as a baseline and regularly enhance the voltage by one setting per week.

If the subsequent week’s setting feels too intense — you could really feel your tongue is being pulled too onerous — Verma advises staying on the decrease setting for a pair extra days earlier than attempting once more. “It is like coaching a muscle within the health club,” she says. “The extra you carry a weight, the extra you get used to it.”

It takes roughly six to eight weeks from the date of activation for individuals to achieve their closing setting, although some individuals may have three or 4 months, she provides.

Equally, the Genio is activated and fine-tuned by specifically educated technicians in session together with your physician, though you can also make some changes your self utilizing an app.

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