Histopathological Comparison Of Various Tongue Base Reduction Processes

Purpose: Tongue base reduction surgery is the only minimally invasive technique that can be performed under local anesthesia as an outpatient procedure, especially to treat obstructive sleep apnea caused by hypopharyngeal obstruction.Studies reported that various devices could be used for tongue base reduction, but comparisons of these methods are limited in the literature. Our study aimed to compare the histological effects of tongue base reduction methods performed with the Celon radiofrequency, monopolar cautery, Coblator, and Sutter devices on the tissue. Methods: This study included 23 female rats (aged 4–8 months). Rats were divided into 5 groups. Tongue base reduction was performed with monopolar cautery in the first group(5 rats), with radiofrequency in the second group(5 rats), with the Coblator in the third group(5 rats), and with the Sutter in the fourth group(5 rats). The fifth group was the control group which consisted of 3 rats. The rats tongues were resected for histological examination 1 week after procedures. Results: While the highest amount of fibrosis was seen in the Sutter group, fibrosis was also higher in the Coblator group. A significant difference was observed in all groups when compared with the control group regarding tissue thickness. While the average tissue thicknesses of the monopolar, rf, and Coblator groups were almost the same, the highest tissue reduction, was in the Sutter group. Conclussion: Although we observed that all the methods we used were safe, the method that caused the most fibrosis and tissue reduction was the Sutter.