Ilomäki J, Baer G A, Karhuketo T, Talonen P, Puhakka H
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Tampere University Hospital, Finland.
Acta Otolaryngol Suppl. 1997;529:210-1. doi: 10.3109/00016489709124124.
Impaired function of the genioglossal muscle is the most frequent reason for upper airway obstruction during sleep. Functional electrical stimulation (FES) of the hypoglossal nerve may be used to push the tongue forward to release the obstruction. Anaesthesia-induced upper airway obstruction resembles the situation during obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome. In order to develop an implantable FES system for treatment of OSA, we stimulated the exposed hypoglossal nerve in 6 patients undergoing radical cancer surgery of the head and neck region. Tongue movements during stimulation were video filmed and the amount of unobstructed airway achieved with stimulation was estimated using the adjacent intubation tube as reference. In every case, stimulation created an unobstructed airway, larger than the intubation tube.
颏舌肌功能受损是睡眠期间上呼吸道阻塞最常见的原因。舌下神经功能性电刺激（FES）可用于推动舌头向前以解除阻塞。麻醉诱导的上呼吸道阻塞类似于阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停（OSA）综合征期间的情况。为了开发一种用于治疗OSA的可植入FES系统，我们对6例接受头颈部根治性癌症手术的患者暴露的舌下神经进行了刺激。刺激期间的舌头运动进行了视频拍摄，并以相邻的插管作为参考来估计刺激所实现的通畅气道量。在每种情况下，刺激都产生了比插管更大的通畅气道。
