Surgery Effective in Children with Sleep Apnea

A new study, published in the journal Laringoscopy, has found that children who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea may respond positively to surgery. The surgery (medically called tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy) may solve sleep problems in 80-90% of the children.

The study was carried out by researchers from Saint Louis University Medical School and was led by Ron Mitchell, M.D., professor of pediatrics otolaryngology.

Children with obstructive sleep apnea may suffer a variety of health issues. Obstructive sleep apnea is characterized by children stopping breathing periodically during sleep and snoring very loudly while sleeping. Experts believe that the cause of OSA is the enlargement of the tonsils and adenoids. The enlargement of the tonsils and adenoid may cause the upper airway conducts to collapse during sleep, thus disrupting the normal cycle of breathing.

So by removing tonsils (tonsillectomy) and adenoids (adenoidectomy) the problem should be corrected. This what medical experts believe. And in fact, this study is showing that in 80-90% of the cases the removal of tonsils and adenoids corrects the OSA that these children have.

Seventy-nine children participated in this study and, according to the authors, all of them experienced an improvement after the surgical procedures. The study look at severity of OSA and the study considered a successful surgical intervention the reduction to less than 5 incidents of OSA (breath interruption) through the night. Children with initial mild OSA (5-9 incidents) had less than 5 after surgery. Children with severe OSA (more than 20 incidents per night) experienced a 64% resolution after surgery.

It is estimated that between 3-4% of children (ages 4 to 6) suffer from OSA in the United States. However, the numbers may be higher since many parents do not recognize OSA as a problem. Common signs of obstructive sleep apnea include unexplained daytime sleepiness, restless sleep, and loud snoring (with periods of silence followed by gasps).