Influence of natural hyoid bone position and surgical repositioning on upper airway patency: A computational finite element modeling study

The hyoid bone's inferior baseline position in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has led to surgical hyoid repositioning (SHR) treatment, yet outcomes vary widely. The influence of baseline hyoid position (BHP; phenotype) and SHR on upper airway (UA) function remains unclear. We aimed to investigate their impact on the UA using computational modeling.