Artikel
Positional trainer: a new treatment for positional obstructive sleep apnea
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Veröffentlicht: | 4. April 2012 |
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Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a prevalent disorder which appears to be positional dependent (apnoea hypopnoea index-AHI- in supine position ≥ twice the AHI in other positions) in 56% of patients. The possible effect of positional therapy with other techniques than the ‘tennis ball technique’ has not been investigated thoroughly so far. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the Sleep Position Trainer (SPT) in treating positional OSA without disturbance of the sleep quality.
Material and methods: 18 patients (15 men; mean age 52.6±9.6 years; mean body mass index 26.9±3.7 kg/m2) with positional OSA (mean AHI 17.4±6.8 events/h; mean AHI in supine position 37.1±14.3 events/h) underwent a 29±2 days of treatment at home with the SPT. The SPT is a sensor positioned in an elastic band attached around the body. The SPT measured the body position and vibrated when the patient lied in supine position. Subsequently, a polysomnography was repeated.
Results: Average use of the positional trainer was 27.2±2.8 days. The average proportion of supine position during the last 5 days of therapy (including the polysomnography night) was 3.3±10.8% of total sleep time, in comparison with 42.6±18.4% (p<0.001) at baseline. AHI at follow-up was 7.3±4.8 events/h (p<0.001). Sleeping efficiency at follow-up was 82.8±10.7, whereas at baseline it was 87.1±7.8% (p<0.05).
Conclusions: The SPT appears to have good compliance and can significantly reduce the proportion of supine sleep position and the AHI in patients with positional OSA.