Summary

The radiofrequency thermal ablation (RFTA) represents a new technology used in Otorhinolaryngology to treat the upper airway obstruction associated to snoring, mild apnea and hypertrophied turbinates.

Ninety patients with primary snoring and mild apnea were submitted to staged sessions of RFTA in the soft palate (1-3 sessions) with reduction of the snoring scale from 8.6 in pre-operative to 2.7 in the post-operative time.

Fourty patients with nasal obstruction due to inferior hypertrophic turbinates were submitted to 1-2 submucosal sessions of RF in the inferior turbinate with excellent results in 83% and moderate in 17%.

The pos-operative follow-up ranged from 6 to 12 months.

The RFTA constitutes a new approach to treat upper airway obstruction as snoring, mild apnea and hypertrophic turbinates with less morbidity, office-based way and effectiveness.