Upper airway radiofrequency ablation with nasal surgery: An effective and cost‐effective strategy for socially‐disruptive snoring

Abstract

6 Week Follow-up. After an initial post-operative follow-up, patients were seen in the office 6 weeks after surgery. The patient was instructed to come with the RFA device that they had been given after the initial surgery. All patients were encouraged to undergo a second stage RFA of the palate in the office. Due to concerns of patients tolerance, tongue RFA was not repeated in the office unless the patient had continued snoring after a series of palate RFA titrations. The procedure was performed while sitting upright under local anesthesia. The soft palate was anesthetized with 14% Benzocaine spray followed by injection of 8cc of 1% lidocaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine into the soft palate. The previously used RFA applicator was cleaned with an alcohol swab. A similar pattern of 6 RFA lesions of 300 J each was then applied. The RFA applicator was again cleaned with an alcohol swab and handed to the patient. In most cases, the patient was given a prescription for hydrocodone and a steroid taper pack.