Australian researchers have successfully used an antidepressant and antispasmodic together to treat sleep apnoea, reducing symptoms by a third in a small study.

The trial of reboxetine and hyoscine butylbromide on 12 patients with severe obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) reduced the number of hypoxic events by at least 15 events per hour compared with a placebo.

There were accompanying improvements in overnight oxygen saturation, with nadir levels increasing from 82% to 88%, according to the study in the Journal of Physiology.

Lead author Professor Danny Eckert, director of the Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health at Flinders University, said almost everyone in the study had some improvement in sleep apnoea.