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For patients travelling from Zambia

Airway & Sleep Apnoea Surgery for patients in Zambia

Loud snoring, waking up exhausted, struggling with a CPAP mask, or a child who pauses their breathing at night. Here's how the cause is found and when surgery may be an option. If you live in Zambia, your own doctor can refer you, and the rooms help you plan travel to Johannesburg for an in-person consultation. Cross-border cover for Zambian patients is often provided by corporate health plans and international insurers. On request, the practice supplies the clinical motivation, quotations and coding needed for a guarantee of payment.

Illustrative image: CPAP mask and a knitted toy elephant on a folded blanket in a calm consulting roomIllustrative image

Medical aid & funders

Cross-border cover for Zambian patients is often provided by corporate health plans and international insurers. On request, the practice supplies the clinical motivation, quotations and coding needed for a guarantee of payment.

  • Zambian medical schemes and corporate health plans

    Some schemes and employer plans cover treatment in South Africa with prior authorisation. Confirm your benefit option and required documents before travel.

  • International health insurers

    Guarantee-of-payment letters are generally required before elective admission.

Travel & arrival

Departing from
Kenneth Kaunda International Airport, Lusaka
Arriving at
O.R. Tambo International Airport
Hospital
Netcare Milpark Hospital, Parktown West (approx. 45 minutes by road from O.R. Tambo; 35 minutes from Lanseria)

Direct flights connect Lusaka and Ndola with Johannesburg (approximately two hours).

Urgent transfers and air ambulance coordination

Your records & POPIA

Sending medical records from Zambia to a practice in South Africa is a cross-border transfer of personal information, which may also be regulated by the data protection law of Zambia. The secure referral portal explains which information is transferred, and where it is processed, and asks for explicit consent before anything is submitted.

  1. 01 Your doctor uploads the referral and imaging
  2. 02 Travel planning call (logistics only)
  3. 03 Funder documents supplied on request
  4. 04 Consultation about airway & sleep apnoea surgery in person in Johannesburg
Start a secure referral

Surgical management of obstructive sleep apnoea is considered for patients who cannot tolerate CPAP therapy, following formal sleep study and airway assessment. Paediatric airway care is provided at Netcare Mulbarton Hospital, and complex adult airway cases at Netcare Milpark Hospital.

Obstructive sleep apnoea

Obstructive sleep apnoea occurs when the upper airway repeatedly narrows or collapses during sleep. Untreated moderate to severe sleep apnoea is associated with daytime sleepiness and increased cardiovascular risk.

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the first-line treatment. Surgery is considered for patients who are unable to tolerate CPAP, or in whom a specific anatomical obstruction has been identified.

Establishing surgical candidacy

A formal sleep study (polysomnography or a validated home study) is required before any surgical decision. Drug-induced sleep endoscopy may be used to identify the level and pattern of airway collapse, which guides the choice of procedure.

Surgery is not suitable for every patient, and outcomes vary. Weight management and positional therapy are often part of the overall plan.

  • Formal sleep study confirming the diagnosis and severity
  • Documented CPAP trial and reasons for intolerance
  • Examination of the nose, palate, tongue base and larynx
  • Body mass index and relevant comorbidities

Paediatric airway

In children, enlarged tonsils and adenoids are the most common cause of obstructed breathing during sleep. Snoring with pauses in breathing, restless sleep and daytime behavioural changes warrant assessment. Paediatric airway care is provided at Netcare Mulbarton Hospital.

Treatments in this area

  • Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) and palatal surgery
  • Drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE)
  • Adenotonsillectomy
  • Laryngotracheal reconstruction
  • Tracheostomy

Your care team may include: ENT and airway surgery, Sleep medicine, Paediatric anaesthesia and paediatric ward (Netcare Mulbarton), Adult intensive care (Netcare Milpark).

For referring doctors

When to refer, and what to send

Send a secure referral

The referral form asks for consent to records being sent from Zambia to South Africa and processed on servers outside South Africa (POPIA Section 72). The data protection law of Zambia may also apply.

Referral criteria

  • Confirmed obstructive sleep apnoea with CPAP intolerance
  • Loud snoring with witnessed apnoeas in a child
  • Stridor or suspected subglottic or tracheal stenosis
  • Recurrent tonsillitis meeting accepted criteria for tonsillectomy

Helpful work-up before consultation

  • Sleep study report (polysomnography or home study)
  • CPAP compliance data where available
  • Flexible nasendoscopy findings, if performed
  • CT neck or airway imaging for suspected stenosis

Common questions

Things people often ask

Can't see your question here? The rooms are happy to help.

Contact the rooms
Is surgery an alternative to CPAP?

For selected patients who cannot tolerate CPAP, surgery may reduce airway obstruction. A sleep study and airway assessment are required first to determine whether surgery is appropriate and which procedure is most suitable.

My child snores and stops breathing at night. Where can they be assessed?

Paediatric airway assessment, including evaluation for adenotonsillectomy, is available at Dr Kana's rooms at Netcare Mulbarton Hospital, Suite 11, in Johannesburg South.

Medically reviewed by Dr Nadir Kana, Otorhinolaryngology (ENT) and Head & Neck Surgery. Last reviewed .