Screen for Obstructive Sleep Apnea Before Surgery
According to a new study in Anesthesiology, diagnosed and treated patients with obstructive sleep apnea are less prone to develop serious cardiovascular complications after surgery. 
The most noticable signs of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are snoring, daytime sleepiness and high blood pressure. The latter is because OSA is said to be the number one cause of secondary hypertension, when high blood pressure is the result of a disease.
It is said that 25% of surgical patients may have obstructive sleep apnea, a sleep-related breathing disorder when the throat muscles ocasionally relax and block the airway, causing bloos oxygen desaturation and short awekaning during the night. If obstructive sleep apnea is diagnosed at least 5 such episodes are recognized per hour of sleep.
Anyone can develop obstructive sleep apnea but middel-aged or older males with central fat distribution are at the highest risk.
Obstructive sleep apnea affects millions, but most cases go undiagnosed.
Diagnosing OSA
Diagnostic protocols require patients with suspected obstructive sleep apnea to be referred to fully equipped sleep labs where polysomnography is carried out to monitor your heart, lung, brain activity, arm and leg movements and blood oxygen levels.
However, sleep lab test which may not be available either in a necessary time range or in a nearby institute. For this cases Meditech apneABP may offer a convenient and inexpensive solution for pre-screening obstructive sleep apnea.
Meditech apneABP combines 24-hour blood pressure monitoring to reveal hypertension with pulse oximetry to monitor blood oxygen saturation and actigraphy. Brachial and finger pulse waveforms and brachial pulse transition times for a better insight on arterial wall elasticity status are also available.