Quality of life after surgical treatment of children with obstructive sleep apnea: Long-term results

SummaryObjectivesTo measure the long-term impact of tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy (T&A) on children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).MethodsA controlled study on 101 OSA children, operated between June 1999 and January 2001. The OSD-6 was used to assess the results. The caregivers of these patients were asked about their subjective impression prior to surgery (first evaluation), 8 days after the procedure (second evaluation), and with a minimum follow-up of 3 years after the operation (third evaluation).ResultsMean of follow-up was 61.9 ± 13.1 months (range, 36–75 months). The total mean survey score showed a highly significant improvement when comparing first evaluation versus second evaluation, first evaluation versus third evaluation, and second evaluation versus third evaluation (p < 0.001). In the same way, we found a favourable outcome in the six domains when visits were compared. Only sleep disturbance between second and third evaluation did not show a significant improvement (p > 0.05). There were not differences in the postsurgical outcome of quality of life (QOL) according to the remaining factors studied (p > 0.05).ConclusionsChildren with OSA who undergo surgery show a significant long-term improvement in QOL.