Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) surgery is now a viable solution in selected patients and the "remodeling" palatopharyngeal surgery is the most common one. Recently, it has become less invasive with the introduction of barbed sutures (BS). An optimization of surgical techniques is represented by barbed pharyngoplasty (BP), which requires surgical precision and needs efficient and precise oropharyngeal visualization. Consequently, the lighting system is of pivotal importance in BP. The aim of this work is to describe the first experience on the use of a new lighting system, called KLAROTM in BP for OSA. We evaluated the KLARO™ system in 15 consecutives BP for OSA in comparison with conventional headlamp illumination. The visualization of palatopharyngeal muscle in the bottom of the tonsillar fossa, entry and exit needle, such as needle tip, were statistically better with KLAROTM than headlamp illumination for both the surgeon and resident (p < 0.05). No significant differences for the visualization of the posterior pharyngeal wall and uvula were reported. The KLAROTM lighting system allows a satisfied illumination of oral cavity and oropharynx in the majority of cases. We encourage the use of KLAROTM not only in BP for OSA, but in all oral and pharyngeal surgeries, including tonsillectomy and oncological surgery.
Keywords: KLAROTM; barbed pharyngoplasty; lighting system; oral cavity; surgical vision.