title: Adenoidectomy: long-term follow-up.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Campus, Tel Aviv, Israel. benbat7@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Benzion
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Joshua
authors.forename: Gideon
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bahar
authors.forename: Jaqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sulkes
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shpitzer
authors.forename: Eyal
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Raveh
mesh_terms: 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