COLUMBUS, Neb. -- Columbus Community Hospital staff have completed the first Inspire surgery to take place in Columbus. Inspire is a small device that helps people address sleep apnea.

Dr. Patrick Henderson, a physician at Columbus Otolaryngology Clinic, is one of only two doctors in Nebraska to offer the treatment option. Henderson, Amber Citta, APRN, and a team of hospital surgical staff completed the first surgery Aug. 18.

“The procedure went as smooth as, if not smoother than, any of the Inspire procedures I’ve performed,” Henderson said. “The team had a lot of communication right up front. It was almost as if we had been doing this procedure together for years.”

The system is composed of a small battery and two wires. Henderson placed the device under the patient’s skin using two incisions — one in the upper chest and another under the chin.

Patients can usually return home the same day of surgery, and they only experience minimal pain. Doctors wait to activate the system until after the patient’s body has healed from the procedure, which takes about a month. Patients use a small remote to turn the device on before they go to bed and off when they wake in the morning.

The patient, Mary Honaker, 58, said she had been struggling with sleep apnea for years. She drove to Columbus from Omaha to have the procedure because she said nothing was helping alleviate her symptoms.

“I’ve been on BiPAP (bilevel positive airway pressure, a ventilation therapy) for at least three years,” Honaker said. “One of the biggest things was the discomfort I suffered from the mask itself. I was very frustrated, because I didn’t feel like I was getting any sleep at all.”

She said she tried everything before talking to her pulmonologist, who suggested Inspire. After reaching out to other Nebraska facilities without luck, she decided to contact Dr. Henderson.

“I called the clinic, and the staff couldn’t have been more helpful,” she said. “I told my husband, ‘It’s a little bit of a drive, but I don’t care. It will be worth it.’”

Before scheduling her procedure, Honaker underwent a screening process that included an initial visit with Dr. Henderson and an airway exam. The screening determined she was a good candidate for the procedure.

“Everything went beautifully,” she said. 

There are several different approaches to treating sleep apnea that include surgical procedures and oral appliances. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), for example, requires the use of a mask and hose to blow air into a person’s airway. It works for many people, but not for everyone, which is why Inspire may be a welcome alternative.

“Inspire is for patients who have tried everything and have no other choice,” Henderson said. “It allows them to get their lives back.”