Background: Obstructive sleep-disordered breathing (OSDB) is a wide range of diseases that can cause morbidity in children, such as growth failure, neurocognitive and behavioral abnormalities, and cardiovascular dysfunction. The study aimed to evaluate adenoidectomy with bilateral partial tonsillectomy compared with adenoidectomy with classical unilateral complete tonsillectomy for the management of pediatric OSDB.
Patients& Methods: A total of 50 children with obstructive sleep‐disordered breathing secondary to adenoid enlargement with tonsillar enlargement were enrolled in randomized controlled trials. The study was conducted in the period between April 2018 and August 2020. Those patients were randomly subdivided into two groups; group A (included 25 patients who underwent adenoidectomy by microdebrider with bilateral partial tonsillectomy by using the coblation) and group B (included 25 patients who underwent adenoidectomy by microdebrider with classical unilateral tonsillectomy).
Results: Both groups showed insignificant differences as regard age, sex, postoperative hemorrhage, time to resume a normal diet, and tonsillar regrowth. Patients who underwent bilateral partial tonsillectomy had significantly lower intraoperative blood loss, CRIES scale and obstructive sleep apnea-18 quality of life (OsA-18). Tissue regrowth occurred in one (4%) patient from those children who underwent a bilateral partial tonsillectomy at the 6th month postoperatively. At the 12th month postoperatively, 2 (8%) patients who underwent bilateral partial tonsillectomy had tissue re-growth while no patient who underwent unilateral complete tonsillectomy developed tissue regrowth either at the 6th or 12th month postoperatively.
Conclusion: There are various post-operative advantages to partial tonsillectomy as less pain, better food intake, and a rapid return to a normal diet.