New St. John’s Health Sleep Apnea Treatment Achieves Major Milestone

St. John’s Health is pleased to announce that Ear, Nose, Throat surgeon Martin Trott, MD, recently implanted the Inspire sleep apnea treatment system for St. John’s 50th patient since the program’s inception in 2020. “It’s remarkable that this new program has helped so many patients in our region already,” said communications officer Karen Connelly. “Launching a new service during the challenging times of the pandemic really speaks to the commitment and leadership of Dr. Trott and the Pulmonology/Sleep team, including Dr. Haven Malish and Shawna Giles, APRN.”

Inspire is a FDA-approved outpatient surgical treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a common but disruptive sleep disorder that affects about 22 million Americans. OSA causes very poor sleep quality. Left untreated, OSA can be deadly, causing accidents, mood swings, memory loss, stroke, and heart attack. Inspire is a highly effective treatment for individuals with OSA who haven’t been successful utilizing CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) masks or other treatment options such as oral appliances.

Inspire clinical trial results in 2014 concluded that patients who use Inspire treatment had significant reductions in sleep apnea events and substantial improvement in their quality of life. These improvements were sustained during a five-year follow-up study in 2019. “I’m gratified when we are able to help patients restore their ability to sleep,” said Dr. Trott, “It improves wellbeing for our patients and also for their partners, who have typically been experiencing poor sleep as well, due to the patient’s snoring and restlessness.” St. John’s first Inspire patient is the first to concur. “It’s wonderful. Great sleep, no noisy machine and cumbersome hose, and most important, my wife loves it because I don’t snore anymore,” shared Bob Pisano. According to Pisano, “CPAP never worked for me.” Dr. Trott is among the Top 100 Inspire physicians for number of devices implanted in the U.S and has performed more Inspire procedures than any other physician in Wyoming. Giles is one of only 50 providers in the country who is fully certified to manage patients with Inspire therapy and provide an exceptional level of care throughout the entire care pathway after implant. Pulmonologist Dr. Malish is credited by Dr. Trott as introducing Inspire in Teton County after seeing how it greatly improved the lives of his patients who live in other parts of the country.

Connelly attributes service excellence as well as physician expertise for the success of St. John’s program. “Dr. Trott and the ENT clinic provide timely scheduling and follow up, and work closely with St. John’s Pulmonology and Sleep Disorder Center to achieve the best possible outcomes for the Inspire device,” she said. Dr. Trott’s office also offers full insurance assistance, a concierge insurance assistance service provided by experts at Inspire.

Anyone interested in learning more about Inspire Sleep Apnea Surgical Treatment is encouraged to take a free online screening at www.stjohns.health/inspiresleep or call St. John’s Health at (307) 739-7551.

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Media Contact: Karen Connelly, Chief Communications Officer, kconnelly@stjohns.health, (307) 739-7380