Genioplasty and Hyoid Advancement by Distraction Osteogenesis for the Correction of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in a Pediatric Patient

Advancement genioplasty is one variation of genioglossus advancement (GA) and GA is a surgical intervention that can be applied for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) caused by hypopharyngeal collapse. The genioglossus muscle originates from the posterior surface of the midline mandible and inserts into the entire tongue mass and the body of the hyoid bone. Placing horizontal tension on the genioglossus muscle enlarges the posterior airway space. We use a modified GA that applies distraction osteogenesis to increase forward movement of the genioglossus muscle and also connects the bone transport segment to the hyoid bone with a thread to maximize the anterior movement of the hyoid bone. We used this technique on a young patient and obtained good results.