Loading...
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affects 2%–3% of children and can have serious cardiopulmonary and neurobehavioral sequelae. When 1- and 2-year-olds suffer from OSA, otolaryngologists treat these young children with adenotonsillectomy. To examine predictors of persistent OSA after surgery, researchers retrospectively reviewed medical records of 283 children (mean age, 22 months; 85% black) with sleep studies showing OSA before adenotonsillectomy; 86% had moderate or severe OSA on the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) preoperatively, almost half were obese, and 22% had asthma.
The 70 children who underwent postoperative sleep studies had significantly more-severe OSA than children who did not undergo postoperative studies (AHI, 35 vs. 22; moderate or …