The hypoglossal nerve stimulation (HNS) produces a tongue protrusion for the treatment of mod-severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). It is one of the emerging health technologies prioritized to assess its possible inclusion on the Spanish National Health System. The objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of this system in the treatment of OSA.

An early assessment (horizon scanning) was performed. The searched databases were: PubMed, WOS, Tripdatabase, Dynamed, Cochrane Library and ICTRP. Clinical studies of OSA patients treated with HNS published until 01 March 2017 were reviewed. Outcomes considered were: AHI (Apnea Hypopnea Index) ODI (Oxygen Desaturation Index) ESS (Epworth sleepiness scale) and AE (adverse events).

Four devices of HNS were founded: Inspire™, HGNS®, Aura6000™, and Nixoah™. We found two randomized controlled trials (RCT). The Inspire™ RCT showed significant results on mean differences on AHI (−16.9, 95% CI −24.7 to −9.0); ODI (−15.1, 95% CI −22.7 to −7.5) and ESS (−4.5, 95% CI −7.5 to −1.4) in 46 patients, after one week of follow-up. The HGNS® RCT showed non-significant differences on AHI (device active 22.1 ± 5.2 vs control 29.7 ± 6.2), ODI (11.4 ± 4.1 vs 19.5 ± 5.2) and ESS (9.8 ± 1.0 vs 14.1 ± 2.5) in 21 patients at 6 months. A systematic review that included 6 cases series (3 with HGNS®, 2 with Inspire™ and 1 with Aura6000™) without device subgroup analysis and 7 cohorts studies (6 with Inspire™ and one with Aura6000™) showed significant differences comparing AHI, ODI and ESS results to before treatment values. Major AE reported from the studies varied from 4 to 4.5%. No study with Nixoah™ was found.

Inspire™ seems to be an effective option for OSA patients although the evidence is scarce and of low quality for all HNS devices. It would be necessary further well-designed studies.