Adenoidectomy: long-term follow-up.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the long-term (3-5 years) success of adenoidectomy and reasons for unsatisfactory results.


METHODS
The parents of all children who underwent adenoidectomy alone at a major tertiary center from 1998 to 2000 were asked to complete a questionnaire assessing their child's well-being and symptomatology 3-5 years after surgery; some were invited for follow-up. Symptom improvement, persistent symptoms, and adenoid regrowth were evaluated.


RESULTS
Among the 206 parents who complied, 74%-87% reported improvement in all main symptoms: nasal obstruction, snoring, chronic rhinorrhea, hyponasal speech, and obstructive sleep disorder. At follow-up (n = 36), the symptomatic patients had significantly more anatomic nasal abnormalities (P = 0.01) and a higher rate of significant adenoid enlargement (P = 0.08), 3 patients (19%) vs none (0%).


CONCLUSIONS
Adenoidectomy alone is satisfactory treatment for nasal obstruction and obstructive sleep apnea in selected children. Though some adenoid regrowth is not rare, clinically significant adenoid regrowth is infrequent. Persistent or recurrent symptoms are attributable mainly to nasal pathology.
Joshua
Benzion
B
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Campus, Tel Aviv, Israel. benbat7@yahoo.com
Bahar
Gideon
G
Sulkes
Jaqueline
J
Shpitzer
Thomas
T
Raveh
Eyal
E
D000233:Adenoidectomy; D000234:Adenoids / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D000293:Adolescent; D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006984:Hypertrophy; D008297:Male; D012008:Recurrence; D013997:Time Factors