Children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are at increased risk for behavioral and emotional difficulties, but tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy can improve both these problems as well as quality of life, new research shows.

OSA, a fairly common condition in which complete or partial blockage of the airway occurs periodically during sleep, can cause loud snoring, nighttime sleep disturbances and daytime sleepiness. The condition is sometimes caused by large tonsils and adenoids, which are removed during the tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy procedure.

The new research findings are based on a study of 42 children with OSA who had tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy, and a comparison group of 41 children with no snoring who had an unrelated elective surgery. Behavioral and quality-of-life measures were assessed before the surgery and again three months after the procedure.

Behavioral scores before the surgery were worse for children in the OSA group than for the children in the comparison group. However, following surgery, the children in the OSA group experienced a significant improvement in scores compared with the other children, whose scores tended to decline.

Quality-of-life scores also improved significantly in OSA patients compared with the other children.

Dr. Nira A. Goldstein and colleagues, from SUNY Downstate Medical Center in New York, report the findings in the journal Archives of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

“This study provides further evidence that behavioral and emotional problems are present in children with OSA and improve after treatment,” Goldstein’s team notes.

More studies are needed to precisely identify the behavioral abnormalities that occur in children with OSA and to find clues to help parents and doctors recognize the problems early on, the researchers said.

SOURCE: Archives of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, January 2005.