title: Overnight pulse oximetry in normal children and in children undergoing adenotonsillectomy.
abstract: This study investigates the hypoxia that has been described during sleep in children admitted for adenotonsillectomy. Two hundred and twenty-two randomly selected children and 33 children awaiting adenotonsillectomy had overnight pulse oximetry performed at home. Children undergoing surgery had a second study in hospital on the eve of surgery and a third at home 3 months post-operation. Analysis of pulse oximetry data failed to detect a clinically significant difference in oxygen saturation levels between these populations. Snoring is reported in 76% of children undergoing adenotonsillectomy and 11% of the normal population. Sleep apnoeic episodes occur in 52% of children prior to surgery compared with 8% of the normal population. Overnight pulse oximetry has failed to differentiate children with symptoms suggestive of obstructive sleep apnoea from the normal population. Its use as a screening procedure should be used with caution until more is known about its ability to predict significant disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Royal United Hospital, Bath, UK.
authors.forename: G O
authors.initials: GO
authors.lastname: Owen
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Canter
mesh_terms: D000233:Adenoidectomy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000209:etiology; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010092:Oximetry; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000150:complications; D014068:Tonsillectomy