A new study suggests that healthy children with signs of a sleep disorder, such as snoring or temporary cessation of breathing, should consider a sleep test (polysomnography) and discuss the potential benefits of this. with their pediatrician or otolaryngologist to manage the child’s symptoms medically and before surgery.
Breathing sleep disorder is common in children and ranges from snoring to severe sleep apnea. Doing a sleep study provides more information about how bad the condition is. Doctors often recommend adenotonsillectomy (removal of both the adenoids and tonsils) to improve the condition. There is different guidance on the potential benefit of sleep studies.
To determine the frequency and characteristics of children with standard selective sleep studies for sleep disorder breathing, researchers conducted a retrospective study of patients ages two to 18 who underwent diagnostic polysomnography for sleep disorder breathing between 2012 and 2018 .
We found that many children (44.7 percent) would theoretically go for surgery without a preoperative sleep check if the instructions were followed strictly, on routine sleep studies, perhaps raises the question of the need for surgery. “
Michael Cohen, MD, Corresponding Author, Associate Professor of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Boston University School of Medicine
They also found that Caucasian children, children older than four years, children without respiratory symptoms in addition to snoring and children with smaller tonsils, were more likely to have normal sleep tests.
According to coauthor Jessica Levi, MD, associate professor of otolaryngology and pediatrics at BUSM, this research shows that sleep studies can influence regulatory decisions about whether to proceed with adenotonsillectomy, or medical management of the child’s symptoms. “The potential delay in care and cost associated with obtaining polysomnography should be weighed against parental concerns and the potential for regulatory outcome to change. These factors should be considered. discuss with each patient ‘s family with the aim of making common decisions, “says Levi, who is also director of pediatric otolaryngology at Boston Medical Center.
These findings will appear online in the journal History of Otology, Rhinology & Laryngology.
Source:
Boston University School of Medicine