Sensorimotor tongue evaluation and rehabilitation in patients with sleep-disordered breathing: a novel approach.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To evaluate tone, apraxia and stereognosis dysfunctions in patients with SDB compared with healthy controls, and to monitor the effectiveness of Airway Gym® as an easy-to-use myofunctional therapy (MT) modality in terms of the tongue's motor and sensory responses, comparing results before and after therapy.

METHODS: This was a prospective, non-randomised pilot study of 25 patients with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnoea-hypopnoea syndrome (OSAHS), 25 patients with primary snoring (PS) and 20 healthy controls. Qualitative and quantitative instruments-Iowa Oral Performance Instrument (IOPI), lingual apraxia and stereognosis tests were used to assess tongue sensorimotor function.

RESULTS: 22 patients with PS, 21 with OSAHS and all 20 controls ended the therapy. In OSAHS, the Epworth Sleepiness Scale score decreased from 16 ± 7.3 to 12 ± 4.5 after therapy (p = 0.53). In PS and OSAHS groups, the IOPI scores increased significantly. These measures did not change significantly in the controls. Lingual apraxia testing showed that controls performed all the manoeuvres, whereas PS 5.6 ± 1.4 and OSAHS 4.5 ± 1.9 (p = 0.14). In the stereognosis test, the mean number of figures recognised was 2.6 ± 2.2 in OSAHS, 3.3±1.2 in PS and 5.7±0.9 in control group (p < 0.05). Patients with OSAHS recognised circles and ovals less often.

CONCLUSION: Using the Airway Gym® app produced improvements in sensorimotor tongue function in patients with SDB, due to continuous stimulation of the brain based on proprioceptive training required to localise responses when doing the exercises.