Treatment

There are many treatment options for obstructive sleep apnea that can help your employees receive a better night’s sleep.

The most common and effective treatment for Obstructive Sleep Apnea is Positive Airway Pressure (PAP) Therapy. Each night a person wears a mask that fits over the nose and/or mouth and gently blows air into the airway to keep the throat open during sleep. There are three different kinds of PAP Therapy:

• Continuous (CPAP): Air blows at a continuous pressure throughout the night. This type of PAP therapy is generally the most common.
• Automatic: the machine automatically adjusts the pressure needed to keep the airway open. Throughout the night, pressure will change depending on the automatic needs of the person.
• Bilevel: Bilevel machines alternate between two different pressures throughout the night. During inhalation, the pressure is higher to keep the airway open; the pressure then drops to make it easier to exhale. This sequence of two different pressures continues repeatedly as the employee sleeps.

Each device can record the amount of use each night and show whether or not the employee is compliant with treatment.

According to Medicare guidelines, if an employee is prescribed PAP Therapy they are required to be compliant within 12 weeks of use for the machine and equipment to be covered. University Services is familiar with the rules and regulations of coverage and can work with employers, employees, and Medicare to ensure each employee is covered.

Dental Appliances: reposition the jaw and/or tongue to bring the lower jaw forward and open up the airway. This treatment option is most effective for those with mild to moderate sleep apnea. However, since there is no way to track compliance to ensure employees are actually using the device each night, it is not recommended for treatment for transportation or safety sensitive workers.

Surgery: is another option for patients who do not feel comfortable wearing a PAP mask at night. Common surgeries require removal of the uvula and soft palate to eliminate the extra skin that is blocking the airway. Other surgeries physically move the jaw forward and remove part of the tongue. However, employees will be out of work for an extended amount of time while recuperating from surgery. And unless the employee conducts routine sleep studies every few months after surgery, there is no way to show whether or not it actually helped treat their sleep apnea. Occasionally the results of the sleep studies after surgery show no significant difference in sleep apnea.

University Services can work with employee’s physicians or the company’s medical directors to ensure they are providing the right amount of care and proper treatment. It is important to monitor the effectiveness of treatment to ensure each employee has fewer sleep apnea episodes and sleep better at night.