Quality of Life in Under-14-Year-Old Children After Adenotonsillectomy

Introduction: Tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy is one of the most frequent surgical procedures especially in children. Several indications and contraindications have been suggested for this procedure. The benefits and the negative results of this operation have been studied by different researchers; nevertheless, to date, it is still a common procedure. The main purpose of this study is to obtain extensive information on the outcomes of adenotonsillectomy, according to the patient's physical, emotional and behavioral changes and also on the overall changes in his/her quality of life (QOL). Materials and Methods: All the children, aged 1-14, referred to the Besat Hospital clinics (Hamadan, Iran) between March 2008 and March 2009 were included in this study. Overall, 86 children with documented indications underwent adenotonsillectomy, and were followed up for one year.  Two modified standard questionnaires for QOL were completed before and one year after the tonsillectomy. Upon the completion of this two-year study, statistical analyses were performed, and the demographic data of the study groups were compared with those of a same-age group. Results: Changes were observed in five main complaints as follow: Acute Recurrent tonsillitis was present in 86 patients preoperatively, but in only three cases postoperatively (pharyngitis). Confirmed chronic sinusitis was present in 24 patients preoperatively, but only in three cases during the year after the surgery. Oral breathing was seen in 82 patients preoperatively, but only in one patient during the year after the surgery. Nocturnal snoring was seen in 83 children preoperatively, but in 25 cases during the year after the surgery. Halitosis was present in 71 patients, while and halitosis was seen in 27 during the year after the surgery. Conclusion: Overall, the majority of the parameters studied showed significant differences after surgery.