Common conditions of the head and neck may disrupt sleep and cause diffi culty hearing and swallowing. Ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeons at Auburn Regional Medical Center (ARMC) and Surgical Associates Northwest, Division of Ear, Nose and Throat offer a full range of medical therapies and surgical procedures to treat many head and neck problems.

Rest Assured -- Help for Sleep Disorders
Patients who snore or who have obstructive sleep apnea -- a sleep disorder that causes people to stop breathing for brief periods during the night -- can turn to surgeons at ARMC for relief.

"When patients don't improve with conservative treatments, we use innovative tools and techniques to open the airways in the back of the throat or nose," says Daniel Kozie, M.D., who is certifi ed in otolaryngology. "These procedures help reduce or eliminate snoring and sleep apnea -- and they can literally change patients' lives."

	Daniel Kozie, M.D.
	Kirby Lautman, M.D.
	Mark Hegewald, M.D.
	Mark Emery, M.D.

Surgeons may use radiofrequency probes or administer injections to help stiffen the soft palate. Also, they use lasers to remove excess tissue that interferes with breathing. Patients with more severe sleep apnea may need surgery to open nasal airways, remove tonsils or reposition the tongue.

Thyroid Masses
Most thyroid masses and nodules are benign, or noncancerous, but patients must be evaluated to make such determinations. Advances in treatment now enable surgeons to use ultrasound imaging to locate masses. They may then perform fine-needle aspiration biopsies to remove small numbers of thyroid cells for evaluation. When doctors cannot rule out cancer or when masses are malignant, patients may need surgery.

"We're much better able to identify patients who need thyroid surgery," says Kirby Lautman, M.D., who is certified in otolaryngology. "We can offer these patients safer, more precise and less traumatic surgeries."

"We now make much smaller incisions in the front of the neck," says Mark Hegewald, M.D., who is certified in otolaryngology. "We use innovative laryngeal nerve monitoring technology that helps us preserve the nerve to the voice box, so patients will be able to speak normally after surgery."

Mastoid (Skull Bone) Disorders
Patients who suffer hearing loss or have chronic infections of the mastoid -- the bone behind the ear -- may benefit from treatment and surgery available at ARMC.

"People often don't realize that they have chronic infections of the mastoid until fl uids start leaking from their ears or they suffer hearing loss," says Mark Emery, M.D., who is certifi ed in otolaryngology. "The inner ear may also undergo age-related changes that can diminish patients' hearing."

Some patients require surgery to remove infections from the mastoid. Surgeons can also reconstruct ear bones that have started to deteriorate. Both procedures can improve or restore patients' hearing.

For more information about these and other treatments for common ENT disorders, please call Surgical Associates Northwest at 253-833-4050.