Abstract:

The incidence of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) in Chinese children is 5.8 per cent in boys and 3.8 per cent in girls^{and is therefore, a common group of diseases in childhood. The occurrence and development of OSAS affects the normal growth and development of children, resulting in growth retardation, neurocognitive defects, abnormalities in intellectual development and behavior, and other problems. Therefore, early recognition, diagnosis, and initiation of appropriate treatment is crucial in OSAS. The treatment methods for OSAS in children varies, including; Conservative treatment with internal medicine, surgery, specialized otolaryngology treatment, and a multi-disciplinary combined treatment with varying therapeutic effects. However, surgery continues to be the recognized first-line treatment for pediatric OSAS with adenotonsillectomy (AT) being the mainstay treatment. However, there are differing opinions on the efficacy and postoperative complications of AT. Some scholars believe that AT results in significant improvements and that the symptoms of OSAS can be completely relieved after this procedure. Other scholars believe that the efficacy of AT is still questionable and that postoperative complications and residual disease are difficult to avoid, and therefore, AT is not enough to cure OSAS in children. After reviewing the literature exhaustively, this paper elucidates AT treatment of OSAS in children, to provide a reference for the clinical treatment of this syndrome.}

Key words: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrom, Child, Adenotonsillectomy, Treatment outcome