Adenotonsillectomy for Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Quality of Life: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

ObjectiveTo determine the impact of adenotonsillectomy on the quality of life of pediatric patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and to identify gaps in the current research.Data SourcesThe MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases were systematically searched via the Ovid portal on June 18, 2016, for English-language articles.Review MethodsFull-text articles were selected that studied boys and girls <18 years of age who underwent adenotonsillectomy for OSA or sleep-disordered breathing and that recorded validated, quantitative quality-of-life outcomes. Studies that lacked such measures, performed adenotonsillectomy for indications other than OSA or sleep-disordered breathing, or grouped adenotonsillectomy with other procedures were excluded.ResultsOf the 328 articles initially identified, 37 were included for qualitative analysis. The level of evidence was generally low. All studies involving short-term follow-up (≤6 months) showed improvement in quality-of-life scores after adenotonsillectomy as com...