Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) affects about 30% of Singaporeans. Undiagnosed or untreated OSA is associated with cardiometabolic disorders and early mortality.
Continuous positive airway pressure therapy is the first line in the management of OSA. However this is associated with poor long term compliance. Surgery is a viable option for failed CPAP users. However one of the biggest challenges in OSA surgery is managing tongue base collapse during sleep. Volume reduction surgery of the tongue, maxillomandibular advancement are effective options in selected patients but have their own limitations with effectiveness and general acceptance.
Hypoglossal nerve stimulation is a new and exciting option in the sleep surgeon's armamentarium for addressing tongue base collapse. Highly effective when performed in the appropriate patient, it is less morbid than other surgical options and has a low complication rate. It can be performed with other surgical techniques as well to optimize surgical success for OSA patients.
Our Speaker
Dr. Paul Mok
ENT Specialist
Dr. Paul Mok is a Senior Consultant and Medical Director of My ENT Specialist Clinic at Farrer Park Medical Centre.
Dr. Mok graduated from the National University of Singapore in 1991. He obtained his post-graduate degree in ENT surgery from the Royal College of Surgeons and Physicians in Glasgow in 1997. In 2001, Dr. Mok spent a year at the Grabscheid Voice Center, Mt Sinai Hospital, New York pursuing his laryngology fellowship. Upon his return in 2002, he worked at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), before leaving for private practice in 2015.
He was the Deputy Chairman Medical Board at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH from 2013-2015) and Head of Department at the Otolaryngology, head and Neck Surgery Department at Alexandra Hospital (AH) and KTPH from 2006-2013.
Although Dr Mok’s main subspecialty interests are in voice, swallowing and obstructive sleep apnea, he also manages patients with general ENT conditions such as nasal allergies and sinus conditions, hearing loss, giddiness and diseases of the thyroid and salivary glands. Even while in private practice, he enjoys going back to TTSH, KTPH and Ng Teng Fong General Hospital as a visiting consultant to run the subspecialty clinics there and to teach the junior doctors.
Dr. Mok's specialty interests are diseases of the thyroid and salivary glands, general ENT conditions, giddiness, hearing loss, nasal allergies, sinus conditions, voice, swollowing and obstructive and sleep apnea.
