Instead of relying on a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine for relief, the University at Buffalo (UB) has introduced an FDA-approved device that is surgically inserted to deliver gentle stimulation to nerves controlling muscles that open the airway for sleep apnea sufferers, the university announced Tuesday.
The news comes after Michael Markiewicz, DDS, MD, MPH, professor and Feagans Endowed Chair of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine, performed the first implant nerve stimulator surgery on two patients at Kaleida Health in October.
Each surgery took less than two hours, said Markiewicz, adding the first two patients went home shortly after.
“We saw them a week later for a wound check, and they had no issues,” said Markiewicz, who also serves as the clinical co-director of the Laurence C. Wright Craniofacial Center at Oishei and as an attending head and neck surgeon at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.
He is hoping to expand the scope of this surgery by including children.
While the implant device has been on the market for almost a decade, it has not been widely used in Buffalo, and only a couple of surgeons, including Markiewicz, perform the procedure.
