Tonsil and adenoid hyperplasia is one of the most common causes of upper airway obstruction in children; and generally comes along with sleep apnea. It is usually associated to poor school performance, non-specific behavioral disturbs, hyperactivity, daytime sleepiness, distraction and failure to thrive. This one is a very serious consequence for the child. The purpose of this study is to compare height and weight percentiles before and after surgery. STUDY DESIGN: Clinical prospective randomized. MATERIAL AND METHOD: We studied 55 children (male and female) from 2 to 12 years old; with upper airway obstruction due to tonsil and adenoid hyperplasia. All of them were measured (height and weight) before and 6 months after adenotonsillectomy. Height and weight percentiles were plotted in graphics and compared with statistical analysis. RESULTS: Before surgery, the majority of the children, 78.2% were under p75 for height and 70.9% were under p50 for weight. Three months after surgery there was a better distribution of the children throughout the percentil ranges. For height: 34.6% were under p75; 32.85 were between p75-95 and 32.6% were above p95. For weight 35.5% were under p50; 36.4% were under p50-95 and 29.1% were above p95. CONCLUSION: After surgery, children presented an improvement in their height and weight percentiles. They develop better after the treatment of upper airway obstruction, with T&A surgery.
tonsil; sleep apnea syndrome; failure to thrive; child
