Sleep Lab

Don’t Lose Any More Sleep

Do you find yourself having trouble sleeping at night? We all know what it’s like to go through the day tired, but prolonged poor quality sleep can detract from your quality of life. Poor sleep quality also can contribute to health problems such as high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes and heart failure.

At University Health System, we’re committed to providing the best available testing and treatment to improve your health, happiness and overall wellness hand-in-hand with outstanding patient care. We provide sleep testing for all ages and people with special needs.

Hotel-Based Sleep Lab for Your Comfort

For your convenience, University Health now offers two hotels for our Sleep Lab services; La Quinta Inn & Suites San Antonio Medical Center and Courtyard by Marriott San Antonio Downtown Market Square. With 14 private rooms available, you can rest assured that you are getting the best sleep possible in a comfortable, relaxing environment. Additionally, you can take advantage of each hotel’s amenities including free Wi-Fi internet access and use of the fitness centers.

Both of our hotel-based Sleep Lab locations provide all the same advanced monitoring technology and professionalism as in a hospital-based sleep lab which means you can count on accurate, reliable results from your sleep test.

Since most Sleep Lab tests involve an overnight stay, we offer weekend hours and will conduct daytime sleep studies for people who work at night. If you have special medical needs, we also offer hospital-based sleep testing for children and adults.

Sleep Disorder Testing & Treatment

Testing is the first step in getting to the root of your sleep problem. Our specialists interpret the results of your test to prescribe the therapy best suited for your unique needs.

Conditions

Sleep disorders aren’t all the same. You may have trouble staying awake during the day. Or, you may have difficulty going to sleep or staying asleep at night.

The most common sleep disorder is obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a potentially serious disorder where breathing is interrupted during sleep. Snoring loudly is a sign of OSA. Men older than 50 are especially at risk.

Sleep Conditions We Treat

We offer diagnosis and therapy for adults and children who may have a sleep disorder, including:

Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS)
Insomnia
Narcolepsy
Obstructive sleep apnea
Restless legs syndrome (RLS)

Testing & Diagnosis

We diagnose sleep disorders by performing a sleep study. While you sleep, our team members monitor you with advanced technology so we can determine what is disrupting normal sleep. We also record you sleeping to help our doctors diagnose your condition and prepare personalized treatment recommendations.

We provide sleep testing for adults, children and infants. Most sleep tests can be performed in our new hotel-based Sleep Lab.

We also offer testing for adults, children and infants with special needs in our Sleep Lab inside the main hospital, with full support from nursing and other specialists. This includes high-risk adult and pediatric patients, including those with cognitive disabilities or medical conditions such as heart, lung, neuromuscular or weight problems.

Sleep tests include:

Polysomnogram (PSG)

This overnight study measures sleep cycles by recording:

Air flow in and out of the lungs
Oxygen levels in the blood
Body position
Brain waves
Breathing
Heart rate
Eye movement

Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT)

This series of nap studies is usually given the day after a polysomnogram to evaluate narcolepsy and daytime sleepiness disorders. MSLT checks how quickly you fall asleep in quiet situations during the day, charting your brain waves, heartbeat, chin and eye movements.

The test consists of four to five 20-minute segments scheduled two hours apart, with the entire test taking seven hours.

Treatment

Our sleep medicine specialists talk to you about the findings of your sleep test and recommend the best treatment for your condition. Your doctor also may recommend you meet with one of our specialists in ear, nose and throat (ENT), pulmonology or surgery for help with your sleep disorder.

We treat some more severe sleep conditions and breathing disorders with bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP) and adaptive servo-ventilation (ASV). You’re fitted with a breathing mask that is placed on your face and hooked up to a small machine.

This device increases the air pressure in your throat to prevent your airway from collapsing when you inhale.