For 15 years, Mr Balakrishnan s/o Venkidusamy, always felt tired at the wheel. It was a worrying problem for Mr Balakrishnan who is a SAF regular who stays at Jurong but travels to Changi Naval Base to work.

“I always feel sleepy while driving even though I have enough sleep. So I know something is wrong”. Thinking that he may have some sickness, Mr Balakrishnan got a referral from his army Medical Officer to see a specialist at CGH in 2004.

Dr Hsu Pon Poh, ENT Consultant Surgeon, did the upper airway assessment with award-wining computer-assisted videoendoscopy to check Mr Balakrishnan’s airways and recommended him to go for an overnight sleep test. After the sleep test in Oct 04, Mr Balakrishnan was confirmed to be suffering from severe obstructive sleep apnoea.

Patients suffering from obstructive sleep apnoea stops breathing for up to 10 seconds or more when asleep. As a result, their sleep is continuously interrupted. It affects about 6% of the population and it is more common in males than females. If untreated, it can cause multiple medical conditions including ischaemic heart diseases and hypertension.

As Mr Balakrishan’s condition will affect his safety at work and his health in the long run, Dr Hsu advised him to go for treatment. Mr Balakrishnan tried wearing CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) mask at night to keep his airway open but he did not like it. He decided to go for surgery as it offered a long-term solution.

Due to work commitment, Mr Balakrishnan postponed his operation until he was reassured and encouraged by SSN Tay Beng Choo to go for the operation. He was operated on by Dr Hsu on 23 Aug 2005 to open up his airway. With the latest surgical technique and method, the surgical operation was a success and Mr Balakrishnan was discharged after two days.

"Now, I am ok. I don’t sleep while driving even for long
distances because now my airway passage is
cleared,” said Mr Balakrishnan.

I am happy with CGH. Everything was fast and
smooth. Dr Hsu is very thorough in whatever he says.
He makes sure I understand before I go
for the surgery."

For appointments to see our ENT surgeons on sleep apnoea, please call CGH Appointment Centre at 6850 3333.