Sleep Apnea

Treatments for Obstructive Apneas, Tongue Retaining Device

Posted on 12. Dec, 2009 by admin in Treatments for Obstructive and Mixed Apneas

The tongue-retaining device (TRD) is made of soft plastic and consists of a tongue-sized suction cup that is supposed to pull the tongue forward and hold it in that position. It is gripped by the teeth and held in place during sleep (Figure 7.5).

Many people who have used the TRD in experiments have found it moderately uncomfortable to wear. For this reason, it was worn only half the night in some experiments. Despite its drawbacks, the TRD was found to decrease the number of apnea events by approximately 50 percent. This means that the TRD could be about as effective as UPPP, a type of surgery described later.

The TRD has not excited a lot of enthusiasm in the sleep research community, and so far it has not become widely used or available. Part of the reason for this probably is that the TRD apparently is useful only to a small group of obstructive apnea patients.

The people who are most likely to be helped by a TRD are those who are not obese, have no nasal obstructions, and have only mild to moderate apnea that is strongly influenced by sleeping position — that is, the apnea is much worse when sleeping on the back than when sleeping on the side. For this group of people, apnea apparently is strongly affected by tongue position; therefore holding the tongue forward with the TRD is supposed to be helpful. In some cases more severe apnea has been controlled with the use of a TRD.

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Tags: Obstructive Apneas, Tongue Retaining Device, Treatments