Our approach to Snoring and Sleep Apnoea

Snoring and Sleep Apnoea are two ends of a spectrum called Sleep Disordered Breathing. It is a complex problem that affects mainly the upper airway but also manifests itself in many other parts of the body. 

As a result, it is virtually impossible to manage this problem with a single, one-size-fits-all kind of treatment for everyone. In fact, management requires a personalised approach tailored to each individual that takes into account their unique history, examination findings, sleep disruption patterns and anatomy of the upper airway.

What to expect when you book a consultation for Snoring or Sleep Apnoea

If you have not been to our practice in the past and filled out our latest Patient Registration Form, you will be expected to do so to allow us to register your details into our electronic patient management system. It is highly recommended that we get you to fill this form before your arrive at the practice for your consultation.

Our Practice Nurse will also contact you to fill out some questionnaires related to your symptoms beforehand and either bring the completed forms with you or, preferably, email them to us prior to your appointment.

Most patients do not get woken up from sleep by their symptoms; their bed partners or others living in the same household notice the snoring or choking episodes more. It is therefore useful to get their help in answering some of the questions on the forms. It is also often valuable to have them accompany you to your consultation. 

What to expect at your consultation

On the day, the nurse will measure your height and weight and confirm that we have received all the completed forms. Please ensure that you arrive at least fifteen minutes prior to your appointment time for these to be completed prior to your consultation with your surgeon.

During the consultation, your surgeon will look at your answers to the questionnaires and obtain more details of your problem from you. He will then use a slim endoscope to perform a comprehensive examination of your upper airway, from the nose down to the voice box and windpipe. This is not a painful procedure and is well tolerated in both adults and children. If required, he will also perform some simple air flow tests.

He will then discuss the nature of Sleep Disordered Breathing in general and your condition in particular, using your completed questionnaires, history and a video recording of your examination.

There are several different treatment options, based on the nature and severity of the problem. Your surgeon will discuss these with you and develop a customised treatment plan.

This detailed consultation requires at least 30 minutes so we strongly recommend you to keep at least an hour aside for the entire consultation.

What happens after the consultation?

It is very common for the patient to be referred for further tests and/or trial of some relatively simple treatment options. The practice nurse will give you instructions about the latter as well as expected timeframes regarding the former. We will also discuss arrangements for further review and give you contact details for further communication.

What is our treatment philosophy?

We strongly believe that since there is no single universal treament for this condition that has been proven to be superior to others for all patients, our role is to discuss the merits of all treatment options and their anticipated success rates with you. We then guide you into making an informed decision yourself rather than imposing a recommendation on you.

We also encourage regular reviews along your treatment journey so that you have the opportunity to ask us questions, revisit other treatment options at future dates, and get reassessed if the nature of your problem changes.

A world-first electronic database system for contemporary evidence-based management of Sleep Disordered Breathing

To make the entire treatment process robust and evidence-based, Dr Samant has designed a sophisticated electronic database management system for the practice that records all subjective and objective parameters of a patient's problem before and after each step of treatment. This allows him to precisely track his patient's progress and adapt further steps accordingly. This is a one-of-its-kind system that is about to be adopted internationally across several renowned centres across the world for management of Sleep Disordered Breathing.