Anyone done these nasal endoscopies for inspire?

[DrOwnage]

Scheduled to do the first stage of inspire, it’s a MAC nasal endoscopy where they’re apparently placing something somewhere.

Anyone done these? Obviously all the patients have bad sleep apnea or else they wouldn’t be getting it. Sounds like a crappy field avoidance deep MAC. Thanks!

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[Gern Blansten]

Scheduled to do the first stage of inspire, it’s a MAC nasal endoscopy where they’re apparently placing something somewhere.

Anyone done these? Obviously all the patients have bad sleep apnea or else they wouldn’t be getting it. Sounds like a crappy field avoidance deep MAC. Thanks!

This is a procedure to achieve the desired results of demonstrating airway collapse during sleep in order to convince (or compel) the insurance company to pay for the implantation of the device. Never seen one not get the desired outcome of the test.

 

[anaesthetic]

They usually have some protocol of uptitrating the propofol in increments and maybe giving a small 1-2 ml bolus to start. They’ll usually stick to straight propofol and nothing else until the patient falls asleep and starts to obstruct. Then they’ll look around and be done soon after. They’re usually pretty easy cases.

 

[UscGhost]

Very fast and easy. Give a 5-10 ml of prop until they get a little sleepy and then they take a look for about 15 secs and it's over.

But ask the surgeon if they have a way they like to do it. Makes life easier

 

[Gern Blansten]

Keep giving propofol until your surgeon sees airway collapse. If they don’t see airway collapse, you need to give more propofol. Once they see it, then the procedure is done. If they still don’t see it, look away so that they can say they saw it. Then schedule them back for implantation. Rinse and repeat until insurance companies decide to stop reimbursement for the procedure. Then begin the process again for the next miracle cure.

 

[UscGhost]

Keep giving propofol until your surgeon sees airway collapse. If they don’t see airway collapse, you need to give more propofol. Once they see it, then the procedure is done. If they still don’t see it, look away so that they can say they saw it. Then schedule them back for implantation. Rinse and repeat until insurance companies decide to stop reimbursement for the procedure. Then begin the process again for the next miracle cure.

Yup. It's a gigantic waste of money. Facility fees, surgeon fee, anesthesia fee...all to document something that's already pre-deternined

 

[nimbus]

Yup. It's a gigantic waste of money. Facility fees, surgeon fee, anesthesia fee...all to document something that's already pre-deternined

Gotta jump through the hoops. Our main Inspire enthusiast quit doing them. Says it mostly doesn’t work.

 

[Gern Blansten]

Gotta jump through the hoops. Our main Inspire enthusiast quit doing them. Says it mostly doesn’t work.

I’ve seen enough of these things come and go to know they rarely work as advertised. But there is money to be made, so off to the races.

 

[Lecithin5]

Easy cases for us. ENT surgeon drives the sedation ship completely. Tells us what rate to start and how to increase it.

 

[DocMcCoy]

Gotta jump through the hoops. Our main Inspire enthusiast quit doing them. Says it mostly doesn’t work.

The eval is easier than a colonoscopy.

It’s a weird definitive procedure, get a chuckle watching a device make the patient vigorously lick the drapes though. We have one ENT that does them, rest don’t because they say it doesn’t pay well. I’ve seen a few come back later for other surgeries and they swear by it. If I couldn’t tolerate a CPAP, I’d consider it.

 

[Ashers]

The eval is easier than a colonoscopy.

It’s a weird definitive procedure, get a chuckle watching a device make the patient vigorously lick the drapes though. We have one ENT that does them, rest don’t because they say it doesn’t pay well. I’ve seen a few come back later for other surgeries and they swear by it. If I couldn’t tolerate a CPAP, I’d consider it.

I've never been assigned to do those. It sounds interesting. But after this past week where I was in a different (non-main OR) location every day but one, I'll probably get that room next time for something different to keep me on my toes.

 

[DocMcCoy]

I've never been assigned to do those. It sounds interesting. But after this past week where I was in a different (non-main OR) location every day but one, I'll probably get that room next time for something different to keep me on my toes.

They stick you just about everywhere!
Coming back soon, hopefully?
That’s your curse for being awesome. 😎

 

[CopaceticOne]

These are super easy cases for anesthesia management.

 

[Ashers]

They stick you just about everywhere!
Coming back soon, hopefully?
That’s your curse for being awesome. 😎

3 weeks! In between that time I'm back in MKE, have a medical mission in Honduras, and then back to visit my parents in PHX.