{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,20]],"date-time":"2026-04-20T12:52:57Z","timestamp":1776689577659,"version":"3.51.2"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,18]],"date-time":"2026-04-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1776470400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Life"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Surgical palatal techniques are established alternatives to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in selective patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) with retropalatal airway collapse. Anterior palatoplasty (AP) stiffens and advances the soft palate, whereas radiofrequency-assisted uvulopalatoplasty (RF-UPP) uses thermal ablation to reduce palatal tissue. This study aimed to compare the 6-month efficacy and morbidity of AP vs. RF-UPP in treating mild-to-moderate OSA. Materials and Methods: We conducted a single-center retrospective cohort study (March 2023\u2013March 2025) of 86 adults (mean age ~42 years; 69.8% male) with mild-moderate OSA (apnea\u2013hypopnea index [AHI] 5\u201330) due to palatal obstruction; 43 patients underwent AP and 43 patients underwent RF-UPP. Polysomnographic AHI, Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS), snoring severity (0\u201310 visual analog scale, VAS) and sleep-related quality of life (functional outcomes of sleep questionnaire, FOSQ) were analyzed at baseline and 6 months postoperatively. Postoperative pain (0\u201310 VAS), recovery time, and bleeding events were also assessed. Results: Baseline characteristics were similar between groups (AHI ~22 vs. 21 events\/h; ESS ~11 vs. 10; snoring VAS ~8.4 vs. 8.2 in AP vs. RF-UPP, all p &gt; 0.1). At 6 months, the AP group achieved a greater mean AHI reduction than the RF-UPP group (\u221213.5 \u00b1 7.5 vs. \u22128.0 \u00b1 7.2, p &lt; 0.001), with post-treatment AHI averaging 8.5 \u00b1 6.0 vs. 13.2 \u00b1 6.5 events\/h (AP vs. RF-UPP). AP yielded a higher surgical success rate (34\/43 (79.1%) vs. 23\/43 (53.5%), p = 0.012), meeting the criteria of \u226550% AHI reduction to &lt;15; p = 0.01. Subjective outcomes improved in both groups, but AP showed greater mean reductions in ESS (\u22125.5 vs. \u22123.1 points, p = 0.001) and snoring VAS (\u22125.7 vs. \u22123.1, p = 0.002). The improvements in ESS, snoring VAS, and FOSQ scores were observed in both groups, with significantly greater gains after AP. Postoperative pain and time to resumption of normal diet were higher in the AP group. No major complications occurred in either group. Conclusions: Anterior palatoplasty demonstrated superior efficacy to RF-UPP in mild-moderate OSA at the expense of increased postoperative pain and a longer recovery period. AP may offer a greater therapeutic benefit in appropriately selected patients with palatal obstruction.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/life16040687","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,20]],"date-time":"2026-04-20T12:01:22Z","timestamp":1776686482000},"page":"687","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Optimizing Surgical Choice in Mild and Moderate OSA: Anterior Palatoplasty vs. Radiofrequency Uvulopalatoplasty"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4475-7737","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ionut","family":"Tanase","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mircea-Sorin","family":"Ciolofan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Codrut-Caius","family":"Sarafoleanu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2601-5684","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mihaela Cristina","family":"Neagu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ENT Department, Medicover Hospital, 020331 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0296-8141","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Florentina-Carmen","family":"Badea","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ENT Department, Medicover Hospital, 020331 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3426-6478","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carmen Aurelia","family":"Mogoant\u0103","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"155","DOI":"10.1007\/s10741-008-9101-2","article-title":"OSA: The new cardiovascular disease: Part II: Overview of cardiovascular diseases associated with obstructive sleep apnea","volume":"14","author":"Devulapally","year":"2009","journal-title":"Heart Fail. 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