Acta otorhinolaryngologica Italica : organo ufficiale della Società italiana di otorinolaringologia e chirurgia cervico-facciale
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Acta Otorhinolaryngol Ital · Jun 2011
Diagnostic and therapeutic iter in paediatric OSAS: personal experience.
Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome in a child is characterized by prolonged episodes of obstructive hypopnoea and/or apnoea of upper airway leading to morbidity. The most common risk factor is adeno-tonsillar hypertrophy. Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome diagnosis is based on clinical ENT evaluation and an instrumental approach, such as pulse oximetry or the gold standard overnight polysomnography. ⋯ Of the positive patients, 86% underwent adenotonsillectomy and a control pulse oximetry 6 months thereafter, 96% resulted negative. Pulse oximetry was efficient in order to avoid incorrect surgery indications, improving appropriateness and safety of adenotonsillectomy in children with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome. Adenotonsillectomy showed a success rate of 96% and there were no episodes of post-surgery complications in particular in those patients at increased risk.