Sleep Surgery

The UCLA Sleep Surgery Division is recognized by colleagues around the world as leaders in the surgical evaluation and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea and snoring.

Patient Care

The foundation of our patient care and research efforts is the fact that good outcomes in surgery for obstructive sleep apnea and snoring depend on determining the cause(s) in each patient. There is no one best treatment for these conditions because the causes differ among patients. We take a personalized medicine approach to select treatments based on our identification of the cause, and we use our own research and the work of others to select treatments that can deliver results.

Drug-induced sleep endoscopy is the best preoperative evaluation available today, and we are recognized around the world for our expertise in this area. With European colleagues, Dr. Kezirian named the procedure and developed the VOTE Classification scoring system that is the international standard for describing findings. With other busy centers from around the world, we have led research studies identifying certain findings that can improve the selection of procedures and improve outcomes. In some cases, this research has shown that some patients may not be a good candidate for surgery of any kind, and we think it is important to avoid surgery that will not be helpful.

We perform a wide array of procedures to treat obstructive sleep apnea and snoring. We make decisions with patients about their best choices from among these options, using scientific evidence but also our experience and, most importantly, patient preferences. We perform advanced palate surgery techniques, including expansion sphincter pharyngoplasty, lateral pharyngoplasty, and the Australian modified palatopharyngoplasty. Dr. Kezirian was the first surgeon in the Western United States to offer Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation® after FDA approval in 2014, and we continue to be a major referral center for especially-challenging cases.