Barbed Suture Needle Rescue Procedure

Recently, the use of barbed sutures (BS) for the treatment of retro-palatal collapse and vibration in patients affected by snoring and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has significantly increase and surgeons have become more familiar with advantages and disadvantages of using this new technology. However, in the common surgical practice, there are some problems related to the use of BS and few technical solutions have been described. One problem still unsolved is when the needle becomes unusable. Today, there is still no recognized procedure for this critical intraoperative problem that forces the surgeon to cut the thread and start the procedure all over again. We describe an easily repeatable technique called “barbed suture needle rescue procedure” to solve this critical problem and allow the surgeon to complete the procedure.