• Jessica Levi, Steven Leoniak, and Richard Schmidt.
• Division of Pediatric Otolaryngology, Nemours, DuPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, DE 19899, USA.
• Arch. Otolaryngol. Head Neck Surg. 2012 Oct 1; 138 (10): 897-901.

ObjectiveTo investigate weight gain and any increased risk of obesity in children who have undergone tonsillectomy.DesignRetrospective chart review.SettingTertiary care pediatric hospital.PatientsThe study included 200 children aged 2 to 12 years who were undergoing tonsillectomy and 200 age- and sex-matched controls. All children had a preoperative body mass index (BMI) and a postoperative BMI recorded 6 to 18 months after surgery.Main Outcome MeasuresThe BMI percentile (BMI%) for age was analyzed between and within groups. A Wilcoxon matched-pairs test was used to analyze BMI% before and after tonsillectomy. A Mann-Whitney test was used to compare BMI% between the study and the control groups. An odds ratio (OR) was used to compare overweight (≥ 85%) and obese (≥ 95%) patients before and after surgery. A correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship between age and weight gain.ResultsThe BMI% did not differ significantly between the study and the control groups before surgery (P = .14). The BMI% in the study group increased significantly after tonsillectomy (P < .001). Although older children had a higher BMI% than matched controls before surgery, they had a smaller change in BMI% than younger children after tonsillectomy (P = .004). The odds of a child being overweight (OR, 1.23; P = .36) or obese (OR, 1.44; P = .12) were not significantly different before or after tonsillectomy.ConclusionChildren, particularly younger ones, gained weight after tonsillectomy, but the odds of a child being overweight or obese after tonsillectomy were no different than they were before surgery.

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