What To Expect

You may need to be watched closely after surgery. Your doctor or surgeon will watch:

• Your blood oxygen levels for the first 2 to 3 nights after surgery.
• For throat swelling, nerve injury, and sleepiness. Both the surgery itself and the medicines used can cause this.

Children who are younger than 3 years and who have other conditions, such as Down syndrome, are more likely to have problems from surgery. The most common is having a hard time breathing. These children may need oxygen therapy or continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy after surgery.

How Well It Works

In children with sleep apnea, symptoms almost always improve within 6 months of surgery. Parents report a decrease in:

• Snoring, coughing, and colds.
• Hyperactivity and other behavior problems.
• Restless sleep.

In children, these surgeries work well to treat obstructive sleep apnea 75% to 100% of the time. This is true even if the child is obese.^{footnote 1}

What To Think About

• Snoring is not always thought to be a medical problem. Your insurance may not pay to treat it.
• You can’t predict if you will have snoring or breathing problems by simply looking at the size of your tonsils and adenoids.
• If you have other health problems, your doctor may have to treat them before you have this surgery.
• Tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy are the most common treatments for children who have obstructive sleep apnea.
• Some children may need to be watched closely before surgery. This includes those who have certain health problems that cause bony deformities of the face and head. These problems include dwarfism and Down syndrome. It also includes children who have had a head injury or who have nervous and muscular disorders, such as cerebral palsy.
• Children who have other conditions, such as asthma, upper respiratory infections, and heart problems, need to be treated for those problems before and after surgery. This can help reduce the chance of problems from surgery.