Tonsillotomy in children with sleep-disordered breathing is safe and results in high parent satisfaction.

INTRODUCTION: Sleep-disordered breathing in children is often associated with tonsillar hypertrophy. For many years, total tonsillectomy (TE) was the treatment of choice, but performing an intracapsular tonsillotomy (TT) is becoming increasingly widespread. In this Danish study, we have investigated the long-term results on efficacy and parent satisfaction after TT performed on children.

METHODS: This was a retrospective study based on a questionnaire that was sent to the parents of 335 children who underwent TT due to sleep-related obstructive symptoms.

RESULTS: A total of seven children had unilateral re-TT due to tonsillar regrowth, leaving a total of 342 operations performed. The response rate was 71% and the median follow-up was 90 months. None of the patients in this study ex-perienced post-operative bleeding requiring medical assistance. A total of 97% of parents reported total or partial relief of all symptoms, whereas 3% experienced no effect of treatment on preoperative symptoms. A total of 5% of the children later underwent tonsillectomy after their primary TT. The majority of parents (89%) would choose the operation again in a similar situation.

CONCLUSIONS: TT has previously been shown to have a lower morbidity and risk of post-operative bleeding and a better recovery than TE. In this study, we found it to be a long-term efficient and safe treatment for children with obstructive symptoms during sleep and it was associated with a high degree of parent satisfaction.

FUNDING: none.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: This was a retrospective study.