ENT Care in Winter Park

A specialized team of sleep experts at AdventHealth at Winter Park, formerly Winter Park Memorial Hospital, ensures that sleep apnea sufferers receive today’s most accurate diagnoses and most effective treatments. Supported by a host of advanced treatments, our physicians and surgeons are able to return patients to a normal sleep pattern, and eliminate the fatigue and loud snoring that accompany sleep apnea. In fact, we were the first to perform a Trans-robotic lingual procedure, a very successful treatment designed to cure chronic sleep apnea.

In mild cases of sleep apnea, conservative therapy may be all that is needed, such as:

• Avoiding alcohol and sleeping pills
• Changing sleep positions to promote regular breathing
• Quitting smoking (smoking can increase the swelling in the upper airway, which may worsen both snoring and apnea)
• Avoiding sleeping on your back

When conservative approaches do not work, surgery may be required. Depending on our patients’ individual diagnoses, conditions and needs, we determine the most appropriate treatment approach. Proven for their ability to reverse sleep apnea, we employ the following surgical treatments:

• Genioglossal: Effective in treating obstructive sleep apnea with success rates of above fifty percent, this surgical procedure involves an attachment that pulls the base of the tongue forward and down to increase the size of the airway.
• Hyoid suspension: Typically completed in less than an hour, Hyoid Suspension anchors the hyoid bone in place, reducing airway blockage.
• Inspire^® Upper Airway Stimulations (UAS): This small, fully implanted device senses breathing patterns and delivers mild stimulation to key airway muscles and is an FDA-approved options for people unable to use a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine.
• Robotic lingual tonsillectomy: This minimally invasive procedure is used to treat obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
• Snoreplasty: Considered highly effective and involving little pain with virtually no recovery time, this minimally-invasive, in-office procedure reduces snoring by decreasing flutter of the palate with an injection that stiffens the roof of the mouth.
• Somnoguard^®: Designed for mild or moderate sleep apnea, this custom-fit plastic device is worn in the mouth at night to lower the jaw slightly forward, creating a larger, more stable passageway for air to pass through.
• Somnoplasty: Using very low levels of radiofrequency heat energy, somnoplasty removes tissues of the uvula and soft palate to create more space in the air passageway.
• Transoral robotic lingual tonsillectomy: We were the first hospital in Central Florida to perform this computer-assisted, minimally invasive procedure that significantly reduces sleep apnea symptoms.
• Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP): This procedure makes the airway wider by removing excess tissue in the throat.