LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – Sleep apnea, a disorder that causes repeated pauses in breathing throughout the night, currently affects about 25 million Americans.
But at CHI Health St. Elizabeth, one man hopes to be sleeping easy soon, after a new piece of technology became available there.
Rodney Crawford, 63, was diagnosed with the disorder years ago, living with potentially dangerous effects to his health.
“I wake up in the morning and I’m just shot,” Crawford said. “I didn’t sleep.”
The new device, called a hypoglossal nerve stimulator, looks similar to a pacemaker and is placed in the chest wall.
It’s another option for patients who can’t wear a CPAP, or continuous positive airway pressure device.
While the procedure has been around for years, Dr. Aaron Robinson, an otolaryngologist at St. Elizabeth, is one of the first in the region to implant this latest version of the technology.
“Instead of using air to force the tongue out of the way, we put a small electrode – a wire on the nerve – and we can send an electrical signal to that wire and make it stick out, Robinson said. ”So we stimulate it and then it moves the tongue forward to open up the airway.”
When Crawford heard about the new treatment, he thought it was a gimmick.
“I said, ‘I’m really skeptical of this, because it’s something that sounds too good to be true,’” he said.
But after meeting with Dr. Robinson, Crawford’s concerns were put to bed.
“The surgery takes about a third of the time and the recovery is a lot faster and easier because there’s less disruption of the muscles of the chest,” Robinson said. “So people usually have a lot easier time healing and a lot less discomfort.”
Robinson said the future could bring even more benefits to patients, possibly eliminating the need for a remote to turn the device on before sleep.
“We’re on the cutting edge of sleep apnea therapy that’s surgical,” he said. “By using this new device, we’re able to provide patients with the best outcomes that aren’t CPAP.”
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