Surgical interventions for many obese children suffering from obstructive sleep apnea may not cure the problem, according to research findings presented at the 2008 American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO in Chicago, IL.
Obese children are at increased risk for developing obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a sleep disorder that is associated with a decreased quality of life as well as behavioral, neuro-cognitive, cardiovascular, metabolic, endocrine, and psychiatric complications.
Children who are diagnosed with sleep apnea are generally encouraged to go under the knife for the surgical removal of the tonsils and adenoid tissue. While CPAP or BiPAP therapy is the gold standard for treating diagnosed sleep apnea in adults, it’s not the case in children.
Authors of the study, Tonsillectomy for Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Obese Children, reviewed the literature and combined the results of four studies on obese children who had been diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea. The children underwent sleep studies before and after undergoing tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy.
Obese children with sleep apnea may be helped, the findings reveal, but are unlikely to be completely cured of obstructive sleep apnea by removal of the tonsils and adenoids.
The authors concluded that persistent obstructive sleep apnea after tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy should be carefully evaluated and treated to avoid further complications of the disease. It’s generally at this point that children would be titrated for a CPAP or BiPAP device.
/Sleep News – Children and Sleep/obese-kids-apnea-not-cured-by-tonsil-adenoid-surgery/2008-09-25.1304
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