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Robert N. Cooper, James Noble, Managing Narcogenic Obstructed Respiration in the Aesthetic Surgery Patient, Aesthetic Surgery Journal, Volume 19, Issue 6, November 1999, Pages 485–486, https://doi.org/10.1053/aq.1999.v19.102670001
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The purpose of this article is to offer a new definition of a frequently observed phenomenon known as the syndrome of narcogenic obstructed respiration (SNOR), which is defined as a narcotic-induced relaxation of muscles in proximity to the airway, leading to obstructive apnea. A study was undertaken to ascertain the safety of adapting continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) to treat SNOR. While providing adequate sedation, analgesia, and amnesia to complement the administration of local anesthesia during facial aesthetic surgery, the technique offers solutions to several well-documented anesthesia-related risks.
This newly defined syndrome, SNOR, defines a sequence of events involving a drug-induced depression of the central nervous system (CNS). In this state, the level of depression allows the muscles of the pharynx to relax and soft-tissue structures to collapse into the airway, causing obstruction; this occurs before the muscles of respiration cease to function. In essence, the condition known as obstructive apnea—in which the diaphragm struggles to pull air through an obstruction of the upper airway—occurs before the diaphragm itself ceases to function (central apnea). In this sequential depression of the CNS, death results from asphyxia before the drug itself can produce complete depression of the CNS.
