Histopathological Comparison of Various Tongue Base Reduction Processes

Abstract

Background and Aim: 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 five groups. Tongue base reduction was performed with monopolar cautery in the first group (5 rats), then Celon radiofrequency in the second group (5 rats), the Coblator in the third group (5 rats), and the Sutter in the fourth group (5 rats). The fifth  group was the control group, which comprised three 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 relatively high 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, celon rf, and Coblator groups were almost the same, tissue reduction was more marked in  the Sutter group.

Conclusion: Although we observed that all the methods used were safe, the method that produced the most fibrosis  and tissue reduction was the Sutter method.