Surgery for adult obstructive sleep apnoea

MacKay, Stuart G; Weaver, Edward M

doi:10.5694/mja13.00051

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In reply: We agree that bariatric surgery is an important treatment for obesity-related obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) but disagree on the body mass index (BMI) criterion and on Wong’s interpretation of the literature.

1 Illawarra ENT Head and Neck Clinic, Wollongong, NSW.
2 University of Washington, Seattle, Wash, USA.

Correspondence: sgmackay@ozemail.com.au

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

1. National Health and Medical Research Council. Clinical practice guidelines for the management of overweight and obesity in adults, adolescents and children in Australia. Melbourne: NHMRC, 2013. http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/publications/attachments/n57_obesity_guidelines_130531.pdf (accessed Nov 2013).
2. National Institutes of Health National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, North American Association for the Study of Obesity. The practical guide: identification, evaluation, and treatment of overweight and obesity in adults. (NIH Publication No. 00-4084.) http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/prctgd_b.pdf (accessed Nov 2013).
3. Buchwald H, Avidor Y, Braunwald E, et al. Bariatric surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA 2004; 292: 1724-1737.
4. Greenburg DL, Lettieri CJ, Eliasson AH. Effects of surgical weight loss on measures of obstructive sleep apnea: a meta-analysis. Am J Med 2009; 122: 535-542.
5. Dixon JB, Schachter LM, O’Brien PE, et al. Surgical vs conventional therapy for weight loss treatment of obstructive sleep apnea: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA 2012; 308: 1142-1149.

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