Obstructive Sleep Apnea in the Hospitalized Patient

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), once deemed a common yet unaddressed outpatient problem, has now made it onto the problem lists of hospitalized patients. Hospitalists are faced with the challenge of creating new systems to care for OSA patients when they are acutely ill. Outdated hospital policies and ill-equipped support staff hinder the proper monitoring and care of OSA. This article describes OSA and its incidence in hospitalized patients. It presents tools that can be used to identify patients at risk for OSA-related complications, and makes suggestions for the proper care and monitoring of these patients in the hospital setting.