The disease of sleep apnoea, i.e., interruptions in breathing during sleep accompanied by loud snoring, is a life-threatening illness, about which too little is known, although the signs are immediately recognisable by a layman. The patients are always tired and fall sleep at every opportunity, even while driving an automobile. A huge number of automobile accidents and work accidents are caused by sleep apnoea. The patient usually shows lack of concentration and can not produce continuous output. Frequently he is very overweight and the growth pattern of his face is quite typical, since the lower and upper jaws are usually retropositioned, and the tongue thus does not have enough room. Particularly blockage of the airway occurs when supine. Therefore, most patients with sleep apnoea sleep on their sides and cannot sleep at all on their backs since otherwise they would suffocate. The life-threatening consequences of sleep apnoea are caused by the oxygen deficiency in the blood. This leads night after night to a destruction of brain cells and also of the tissues of other organs, which explains then the diminished performance capability of the brain. The oxygen deficiency causes serious circulatory disorders, hypertension and often leads to heart attacks at night or a stroke. Separate bedrooms due to snoring always indicate a sleep apnoea disorder. The spouse recognises a sleep apnoea illness very easily because, besides the massive snoring, breaks of varying lengths in breathing occur. Sleep apnoea and other sleep disturbances can be determined with a sleep laboratory investigation (polysomnography) and the extent and severity of the disease measured.

One distinguishes between causal (etiological) and symptomatic treatment for the disease of sleep apnoea. The symptomatic treatment usually consists of wearing a breathing mask that is attached to a machine, through which additional pressure is built up during breathing so that sufficient air reaches the lungs. As a result, a certain excess pressure is built up in the lung space, which can trigger complications in turn. There are CPAP devices that one can take along on trips, yet, over time many patients do not tolerate this treatment with the breathing mask strapped on. A further treatment consists of the application of protrusion braces, i.e., plastic devices similar to protheses that force the retropositioned jaw into an underbite position. Painful injuries to the jaw joints result from the long-term luxation position of the condyle of the jaw and the disc in the joint. Operations to improve nasal patency or dangerous procedures with the laser on the soft palate and the palatoglossal arch do not lead to a cure of sleep apnoea.

The etiological treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea consists, however, in the operative forward positioning of the jaws so that room is created for the tongue and the upper airways are opened up. Afterwards the patient can breathe normally, receives enough oxygen and, at the same time, the snoring is usually eliminated. All of the operations performed by us have led to the complete cure of the sleep apnoea symptoms, which has been confirmed by sleep laboratory investigation. In rare cases with a tongue that is too large (macroglossia) a tongue reduction plastic surgery must be performed at the same time. The tongue is less broad then and somewhat shorter, exhibiting no malfunction. The patients recover very quickly after these absolutely pain-free routine procedures, particularly since they have normal blood oxygen values right after the operation. A positive side-effect of this operation is that the patient have a younger-looking appearance, since the growth disturbance with retroposition of the jaws underlying the sleep apnoea has been eliminated and, with the forward repositioning, the facial soft tissues tighten, comparable to a “reverse” face lift operation.