Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder which affects as much of 25% of men and 10% of women in the U.S. Many people don’t even know they have the disorder, creating a population that is unknowingly at a higher risk for surgery complications. Doctors are encouraging researchers to explore the effects of sleep apnea on patients in recovery in order to understand how to better care for their patients.
After surgery, patients with sleep apnea are at an increased risk for complications, such as lung and breathing problems after surgery. Patients who have diabetes and coronary artery disease are generally treated before surgery to make sure they are fit for an operation, it is not clear if patients sleep apnea should be screened as well. Many times doctors do not discover that their patients have sleep apnea until a few days leading up to the surgery. A decision then has to be made to either cancel the surgery and treat the disorder, or simply perform the scheduled surgery with the increased risk.
Research is currently being done to determine which treatments are best for sleep apnea patients during and after surgery to reduce the risk of complications. Some studies suggest regional anesthesia, as it only affects one area of the body instead of general anesthesia which causes a patient to lose consciousness. It has been suggested that hospitals consider creating a standard protocol help keep an eye out for patients with sleep apnea.
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