Abstract
Objective: To assess speech outcomes after partial adenoidectomy in high-risk patients for hypernasality.
Subjective and methods: This randomized clinical trial was conducted on 44 children over a one-year duration at ENT department and Phoniatric unit, Sohag University hospital. We included patients who presented with symptoms of adenoid hypertrophy as snoring, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) treated with partial adenoidectomy. Speech evaluation and nasoendoscopy were done before the operation and after operation by one month and three months.
Results: This study was conducted on 44 children with risk of hypernasality after adenoidectomy. There were 32 female and 12 male patients. The age range was from 3 to 12 years. Sleep problems (snoring, mouth nasal discharge, breathing, sleep apnea) had improved after partial adenoidectomy for all patients. After the operation there were normal resonance for 30 patients, hyponasality for 10 patients and mixed nasality for 4 patients. No nasal regurgitation of food or fluid was observed after the operation.
Conclusion: Partial adenoidectomy is an effective operation to relieve symptoms of sleep disorders and breathing difficulties in patients with high risk for hypernasality without significantly affecting speech.