Sleep Laboratory
Services:
Licking Memorial Health Systems (LMHS) offers the services of a comprehensive Sleep Laboratory. Sleep Care at Licking Memorial is nationally accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) as a full service sleep laboratory. Through an appointment with the Sleep Center located in the office of Licking Memorial Health Professionals pulmonologist Eric Pacht, M.D., patients are evaluated for a variety of sleep and breathing disorders, including obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), snoring, restless leg syndrome (RLS), insomnia and narcolepsy. If indicated for diagnosis, patients are then scheduled for an overnight sleep study. Once detected, most sleep disorders can be corrected, providing patients with a better night's rest and improving quality of life.
LMHS uses the services of Sleep Care, Inc. to provide overnight sleep studies. A registered polysomnographic technologist (RPSGT) performs procedures Monday through Thursday evenings in the Sleep Laboratory located on the sixth floor of Licking Memorial Hospital (LMH), beginning about 7:00 p.m., and finishing up between 6:00 and 7:00 a.m. If daytime nap studies are indicated, they are also performed in the Sleep Laboratory on Wednesdays, from 7:00 a.m., to approximately 4:00 to 5:00 p.m., other days by appointment. Our rooms are private, with full-size, remote-controlled adjustable beds, televisions and hotel-like amenities. After a nighttime study is complete, many patients will shower in the morning and proceed on to their places of employment. With daytime nap studies, breakfast and lunch are provided.
A sleep study is painless and comfortable. Once the patient has been instructed and connected to the equipment, a continuous display of breathing patterns, brain wave tracings and cardiac tracings is shown on a monitor that is observed throughout the night by the technologist. A telecom allows communication between the patient and the technologist at any time during the night. The technologist may also introduce some patients to a device called a continuous positive air pressure machine (CPAP) and its purpose.
After the study is completed, information from the recordings, including response to the CPAP if it was used, is stored and then interpreted by the pulmonologist, usually within about two weeks. Depending on the results, some patients may be asked to return for a second night study. After that time, if indicated, arrangements can be made with one of several home care equipment supply companies for the patient to obtain and receive detailed instructions on how to use a CPAP machine at home. Patients are then followed up by the Sleep Center at the pulmonology office and by their primary care physician (PCP) or referring physician.
If you have questions, please call the office of Dr. Eric Pacht at (740) 348-1805.