PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Kate Reed AU - Martino Pengo AU - Xiao Sichang AU - Culadeeban Ratneswaran AU - Nimish Shah AU - Tao Chen AU - Abdel Douiri AU - Nicholas Hart AU - Yuanming Luo AU - Gerrard Rafferty AU - Gian Paolo Rossi AU - Adrian Williams AU - Michael Polkey AU - John Moxham AU - Joerg Steier TI - Feasibility and patient tolerability of transcutaneous electrical stimulation in obstructive sleep apnoea AID - 10.1183/13993003.congress-2016.PA3420 DP - 2016 Sep 01 TA - European Respiratory Journal PG - PA3420 VI - 48 IP - suppl 60 4099 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/48/suppl_60/PA3420.short 4100 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/48/suppl_60/PA3420.full SO - Eur Respir J2016 Sep 01; 48 AB - Introduction: Transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TES) provides neuromuscular tone to the pharyngeal dilator muscles of the upper airway (UA) while asleep, but feasibility of this method to treat obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) throughout the whole night has not been tested.Patients&Methods: We conducted a sham-controlled, randomised and controlled cross-over trial using TES of the UA muscles in 36 patients with confirmed OSA to assess patients' acceptance of the method and the potential side effect profile. Patients were studied using polysomnography during randomly assigned nights of sham-stimulation and active treatment following titration of the stimulation while awake. Assessment of patients' acceptance and experience of side effects was measured using a visual analogue scale (0-10 points). Data were compared using the Wilcoxon test.Results: None of the patients reported skin discomfort, unpleasant tongue sensations or morning headache (p=n.s.). There was no difference in patients' perceived sleep quality (p=n.s.), but patients reported a 30% reduction in mouth dryness following the night of active treatment (p=0.007). The total sleep time was not different between the treatment arms (p=n.s.). During the trial, there were no severe adverse events.Conclusion: TES of the UA dilator muscles in OSA can be delivered throughout the night with few side effects and does not lead to arousal from sleep, if appropriately titrated.