Sleep apnea avoidance pillow effects on obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and snoring

The study was performed to determine the ability of a new inclined pillow to treat snoring and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. The SONA Pillow is a triangular pillow with space to place your arm under the head while sleeping on the side. Twenty-two patients with nocturnal polysomnogram (NPSG)-proven obstructive sleep apnea syndrome were included in this study; the group included 11 mild, 8 moderate, and 3 severe sleep apnea patients. All patients had a second attended NPSG performed while utilizing this specific inclined pillow. The pillow was found to be an effective and easily used treatment for mild (respiratory disturbance index [RDI] 5 to 19) and moderate (RDI 20 to 40) obstructive sleep apnea and snoring. In this group, RDI ranged from 5.1 to 35.2 and decreased on the average from 17 events per hour to fewer than 5 events per hour while utilizing the inclined pillow (