Electrical Stimulation in Obstructive Sleep Apnoea: the TESLA-home trial

TY - GEN

T1 - Electrical Stimulation in Obstructive Sleep Apnoea: the TESLA-home trial

AU - Al-Sherif, Miral

AU - He, Baiting

AU - Schwarz, Esther I

AU - Cheng, Michael

AU - Ratneswaran, Culadeeban

AU - Pengo, Martino F

AU - Steier, Joerg Sebastian

PY - 2018/12/12

Y1 - 2018/12/12

N2 - Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a highly prevalent sleep disorder, characterised by periods of apnoeas or hypopnoeas due to obstruction of the upper airway while asleep. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the standard treatment, inflating the airway and avoiding upper airway obstruction. However, many patients experience difficulties with long-term adherence to CPAP and may not tolerate sleeping with a mask and, currently, there are few effective alternative treatment options. Electrical stimulation (ES) has long been used to stimulate skeletal muscles. By targeting specific dilator muscles of the upper airway electrical current can treat OSA by providing neuromuscular tone and maintaining upper airway lumen patency. Electrical stimulation can be applied invasively and, more recently, non-invasively. Hypoglossal nerve stimulation (HNS), one of the invasive techniques, leads to a significant reduction in the apnoea-hypopnoea-index and the oxygen desaturation index (ODI), but due to the nature of the procedure it has several associated adverse effects and risks, and it is relatively costly. Transcutaneous electrical stimulation in OSA (TESLA) uses a non-invasive stimulation technique that is safe and convenient, but there are sparse data on its usage. Electrical stimulation may not be as effective as CPAP therapy, but it could be a suitable 2nd line treatment for patients who fail standard CPAP usage. This article summaries the state-of-the-art in electrical stimulation and introduces the first trial of domiciliary transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TESLA home), investigating efficacy and compliance in patients with OSA for a three-month period.

AB - Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a highly prevalent sleep disorder, characterised by periods of apnoeas or hypopnoeas due to obstruction of the upper airway while asleep. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the standard treatment, inflating the airway and avoiding upper airway obstruction. However, many patients experience difficulties with long-term adherence to CPAP and may not tolerate sleeping with a mask and, currently, there are few effective alternative treatment options. Electrical stimulation (ES) has long been used to stimulate skeletal muscles. By targeting specific dilator muscles of the upper airway electrical current can treat OSA by providing neuromuscular tone and maintaining upper airway lumen patency. Electrical stimulation can be applied invasively and, more recently, non-invasively. Hypoglossal nerve stimulation (HNS), one of the invasive techniques, leads to a significant reduction in the apnoea-hypopnoea-index and the oxygen desaturation index (ODI), but due to the nature of the procedure it has several associated adverse effects and risks, and it is relatively costly. Transcutaneous electrical stimulation in OSA (TESLA) uses a non-invasive stimulation technique that is safe and convenient, but there are sparse data on its usage. Electrical stimulation may not be as effective as CPAP therapy, but it could be a suitable 2nd line treatment for patients who fail standard CPAP usage. This article summaries the state-of-the-art in electrical stimulation and introduces the first trial of domiciliary transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TESLA home), investigating efficacy and compliance in patients with OSA for a three-month period.

M3 - Other contribution

VL - 2018

PB - British Sleep Society

ER -