Open AccessChildren who underwent tonsillectomy due to OSAS have significantly bigger tonsils than those with hypertrophic tonsils without OSAS
Author(s) -
Wiktoria Olińska,
Jure Urbančič,
Piotr Kwast,
Lidia Zawadzka-Głos
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
new medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.105
H-Index - 5
eISSN - 1731-2507
pISSN - 1427-0994
DOI - 10.25121/newmed.2020.24.3.92
Subject(s) - tonsillectomy , medicine , obstructive sleep apnea , tonsil , otorhinolaryngology , palatine tonsil , retrospective cohort study , sleep apnea , throat , muscle hypertrophy , surgery , pathology
. Tonsillectomy is one of the most commonly performed procedures in otolaryngology departments. Main indications include tonsil hypertrophy with or without obstructive sleep apnea and recurrent throat infections. The size of tonsils in the group of children qualified for tonsillectomy with obstructive sleep apnea may differ from the size of tonsils in the group without obstructive sleep apnea. Aim. Comparison of morphological features of tonsils in children with and without OSAS undergoing tonsillectomy. Material and methods. Retrospective study conducted from 2011 until 2020, including patients under 18 years old who underwent a total or partial tonsillectomy at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at the University Medical Center in Ljubljana. Results. Among 824 patients included in the analysis, 96 underwent tonsillectomy due to OSAS and 728 due to tonsil hypertrophy without OSAS. Both groups were comparable in terms of mean age and sex distribution. Tonsil size statistically differed in both groups (p = 0.01), with the prevalence of big tonsils (grade 3 of 4) in the non-OSAS group (in 47% of patients) and large tonsils (grade 4 of 4) in the OSAS group (in 53% of patients). Conclusions. In age and sex-matched groups of children who underwent total or partial tonsillectomy, patients who underwent the procedure due to OSAS had bigger tonsils than those with hypertrophy without OSAS.