Surgery Benefits Children With Sleep Apnea

Children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) who have their tonsils and adenoid tissue surgically removed experience an improved quality of life, according to a new study.

Previous research showed that quality of life is impaired for children with sleep disturbances, affecting behavior, infections, and airway and breathing. Because of this, the frequency of surgery to remove tonsils and adenoid tissue has increased in recent years.

The current study involved 47 children with suspected sleep breathing disturbances. Of these, 31 children, 22 boys and nine girls, were all diagnosed with OSA on the basis of a polysomnogram. Adenotonsillectomy was recommended for all. Of the 31, 29 returned for a six-month followup. Of that group, 24 had undergone surgery, while five had not.

"We found significantly larger quality-of-life changes in children who underwent surgery compared with children without surgery,” said the researchers. "Even though not all children were cured of OSA, the improvement in quality of life was nevertheless significant.” The study was conducted by Michael G. Stewart, M.D., of the Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, TX, USA), and colleagues. Their findings were reported in the April 2005 issue of Archives of Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery.