A Randomized Controlled Trial Of Oxygen Therapy For Patients Who Do Not Respond To Upper Airway Surgery For Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Study Objectives: We aimed to determine whether patients diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) who fail to respond to upper airway surgery may be successfully treated with supplemental oxygen and whether we could identify baseline physiologic endotypes (ie, collapsibility, loop gain, arousal threshold, and muscle compensation) that predict response to oxygen therapy.Methods: We conducted a single night, randomized double-blinded cross over trial in which patients with OSA who failed to respond to upper airway surgery were treated on separate nights with oxygen therapy (4 L/min) or placebo (medical air). Effect of oxygen/air on OSA on key polysomnography outcomes were assessed: apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), AHI without desaturation (ie, flow-based AHI), arousal index, and morning blood pressure. OSA endotypes were estimated from the polysomnography signals to determine whether baseline OSA physiology could be used to predict response to oxygen therapy.Results: There was a statistically significant reduction in AHI and flow-based AHI on oxygen vs placebo (flow-based AHI: 42.4 +/- 21.5 vs 30.5 +/- 17.1 events/h, P = .008). Arousal index was also reduced on oxygen vs placebo (41.1 +/- 19.5 vs 33.0 +/- 15.3 events/h, P =. 006). There was no significant difference in morning blood pressure between oxygen and placebo. Although 7 of 20 individuals experienced a 50% reduction or greater in flow-based AHI on oxygen (responders), there was no difference in the baseline OSA endotypes (or clinical characteristics) between responders and nonresponders.Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that a proportion of patients who fail to respond to upper airway surgery for OSA respond acutely to treatment with supplemental oxygen.