Postoperative Complications After Adenotonsillectomy in Two Paediatric Groups: Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Syndrome and Recurrent Tonsillitis

Abstract Introduction and objectives Adenotonsillectomy is a surgery to treat recurrent tonsillitis or obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS). It is considered a safe procedure, with few complications. Moreover, patients over 3 years and without comorbidities do not present a higher rate of respiratory adverse events after the immediate postoperative period, and do not need systematic admission to a paediatric intensive care unit (PICU), regardless of their OSAS severity. The aim of this study is to reanalyse the situation, including patients under the age of 3 years, for whom there are fewer available data, to confirm that this trend has not changed. Methods A retrospective observational study was performed, including all adenotonsillectomised children in our hospital over 5 years. Results 418 adenotonsillectomised children were included, 56.7% due to recurrent tonsillitis, and 43.3% because of OSAS. Only 24 patients (5.7%) experienced adverse events, of whom 1.2% had vomiting, 3.1% bleeding, and 1.4% respiratory events. All the respiratory events occurred in the operating theatre or in the post-anaesthetic unit, most frequently in children with severe OSAS, while the tonsillitis group had more bleeding (P = .046). No differences in complications were observed according to age (P = .174), but the group of patients under three years was relatively small. Conclusions No differences were found in the percentage of complications between the two groups. Although the OSAS group exhibited more respiratory events, these occurred in the immediate postoperative period; otherwise, there was a higher risk of bleeding in the tonsillitis group. These results support the findings indicating that routine PICU admission is not required for these patients.