Adenotonsillectomy relieves sleep apnea in kids

NEW YORK Sep 22 (Reuters) Approximately 1 per cent to 3 percent of children have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which interferes with their quality of life. Removal of the adenoids and tonsils, a procedure called adenotonsillectomy, to treat OSA in children is still controversial, but new research supports its use for long-term improvement.

This issue is important, Dr Cristina Baldassari told the annual meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery in Toronto, because untreated OSA may lead to heart and respiratory sequelae and even growth retardation.

OSA is a disorder in which the airway repeatedly becomes blocked during sleep resulting in a temporary halt in breathing.

Baldassari, from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, searched the PubMed database for studies focusing on the quality of life in children with OSA. She identified 10 studies involving 535 children with enlarged adenoids and tonsils.

A pooled analysis of the data revealed that children with OSA scored worse than healthy controls on several health measures including physical functioning, bodily pain, behavior, general health perceptions as well as their emotional interactions with others.

In fact, the impact of OSA resembled that of children with asthma or juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, Baldassari notes.

In seven studies that looked at outcomes among 342 children approximately 1 to 5 months after surgery, significant improvements were documented in sleep disturbance, physical suffering, emotional distress, daytime problems, and caregiver concerns.

Two articles that included 91 children with OSA showed that these improvements maintained for up to 16 months.

The investigator concludes, ''a complex relationship exists between pediatric OSA, behavior, neurocognition, and quality of life.'' REUTERS SY RN1024