Our clinic provides comprehensive sleep evaluations and works in conjunction with sleep labs at multiple area hospitals in Iowa and Illinois. A polysomnography is an overnight study that is performed at the hospital to evaluate patients who have difficulty with sleep as well as many other problems that can result from obstructive sleep apnea. A home sleep test is an overnight test conducted in the patients home to evaluate sleep apnea. Often, the home sleep test is done because of the convenience of the testing being done in the comfort of the patient’s home.
On the day of your sleep study you should avoid consumption of caffeine after noon. You should wash and dry your hair leaving it free of any hair spray, gel or oils. Your physician will inform you as to what medication you may continue to use on the day of the study as some of these may affect your sleep pattern and the results of the sleep study.
Patients having a sleep study present to the hospital in the evening. They are then evaluated overnight using monitoring of their oxygen saturation levels, EEG monitoring, video monitoring, and heart rate among others. You will be asked to prepare for bed. The sleep technologist will then apply several small discs to your scalp and face that monitor your brain waves, eye movements and muscle activities. A clip will be placed on your finger to measure the amount of oxygen in your blood. Elastic belts will be placed around your chest and abdomen to measure your breathing. A monitor will also be placed on your face to monitor airflow. Two small discs will be placed on each leg to record any leg jerks during sleep. None of the methods used for testing are uncomfortable and are designed to not be disruptive to your sleep.
After the sleep study is completed, a technician will prepare the data collected into a format that can be forwarded to Dr. Dhuna, who is our Sleep Board Certified Neurologist, to provide an interpretation of the data. Once the study has been reviewed by Dr. Dhuna, he will prepare a comprehensive report that is forwarded to your physician. The report includes recommendations for treatment, further testing or evaluation.