Pulse-oximetery is useful in determining the indications for adeno-tonsillectomy in pediatric sleep-disordered breathing.
OBJECTIVE
Although first line therapy of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in children is adeno-tonsillectomy, the indications for this operation have not yet been clearly established. We investigated whether pulse-oximetry is useful for determining the optional treatment modality for pediatric SDB.


METHODS
Two hundred and thirty-two children presenting with snoring and gasping had their oxygen saturation levels examined during sleep. Among them, 86 underwent on adeno-tonsillectomy and were evaluated pre- and post-surgery. We also examined 25 healthy children as controls.


RESULTS
Little desaturation was observed in healthy children. The difference in oxygen saturation levels of the patients between pre- and post-surgery was closely correlated with the pre-surgery levels. We examined the reaction operation characteristics and concluded that children with an oxygen desaturation index of 4% or more (ODI4) of more than 1.5 and/or ODI3 of more than 3.5 should undergo surgery.


CONCLUSIONS
Pulse-oximetry is useful in determining the indications for adeno-tonsillectomy.
Saito
Hideyuki
H
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Keio University School of Medicine, 160-8582, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan. hsaitorl@sc.itc.keio.ac.jp
Araki
Kouji
K
Ozawa
Hiroyuki
H
Mizutari
Kunio
K
Inagaki
Kouji
K
Habu
Noboru
N
Yamashita
Taku
T
Fujii
Ryouichi
R
Miyazaki
Soichiro
S
Ogawa
Kaoru
K
D000233:Adenoidectomy; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010092:Oximetry; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011300:Preoperative Care; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012016:Reference Values; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000097:blood* / Q000601:surgery*; D014068:Tonsillectomy
D010100:Oxygen