Impact of adenotonsillectomy on urinary storage symptoms in children with sleep-disordered breathing.

OBJECTIVE: To prospectively evaluate the effectiveness of adenotonsillectomy on resolving urinary storage symptoms such as frequency, urgency, and urgency urinary incontinence (UUI) in indicated sleep disordered breathing (SDB) patients.

METHODS: We prospectively analyzed changes in storage symptoms and SDB score before and after surgery in 102 children (74 males, 28 females, mean age 8.4 ± 2.8 years) who underwent adenotonsillectomy between July 2011 and Feb 2012. Before and 3 months after surgery, all children and their parents were requested to answer a self-reported SDB scale-questionnaire (22 questions, 0-22 points) and a urinary storage symptoms questionnaire.

RESULTS: The prevalence of urgency in the overall patients was 31.2%. After adenotonsillectomy, prevalence of frequency and, urgency in addition to SDB score were significantly decreased (p ≦ 0.001). The prevalence of UUI was also significantly lower (11.6%-7.4%, p < 0.001). Patients with urgency had a significantly higher SDB score than those without (11.4 ± 4.3 vs. 7.8 ± 4.0, p < 0.001). After treatment, there was no difference between these two groups.

CONCLUSION: Adenotonsillectomy markedly improved both SDB score and decreased the prevalence of voiding symptoms (frequency, urgency, and UUI). There was a strong correlation between preoperative SDB score and severity of urgency in children with SDB.