HNO
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Daytime sleepiness for any reason leads to impairment of daytime performance and an increased accident rate. The consequences are an increase of illness- and accident-related costs for the health system. ⋯ The accident frequency in OSA can be significantly reduced by adequate continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. Up till now there are no uniform legal regulations about the handling of OSAS patients or patients with daytime sleepiness due to other diseases as far as driving ability is concerned.
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Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has a relatively high prevalence of 3-7% in the general population in western industrialized countries. The prevalence is higher in older patients and in patients with cardiac or metabolic disorders. In the general surgical population patients with OSA are often unrecognized prior to surgery so that unexpected problems can occur due to the higher risk of airway collapse. ⋯ Anesthesists and ear nose and throat surgeons are equally responsible for the perioperative surveillance. The article will show the importance of the preoperative identification of OSA patients and the perioperative risk management in the different risk phases apart from surgery. Although the importance of guidelines is very high there are no mandatory guidelines in Germany in contrast to the USA and the implementation should be given priority.