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The Ewha Medical Journal
Ewha Womans University School of Medicine

Ewha Med J 2001; 24(1):11-14

pISSN: 1598-7450

DOI: https://doi.org/10.12771/emj.2001.24.1.11

Original Article

Weight Change in Young Children after Adenotonsillectomy

Chun Dong Kim, Sung-Wan Byun

Copyright ⓒ 2001. Ewha Womans University School of Medicine. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Published Online: Mar 31, 2001

Abstract

Objectives

There are controversial evidences that children gain weight to a significant extent after adenotonsillectomy, usually associated with a general improvement in health. This study is aimed to evaluate the growth disturbance in children with adenotonsillar hypertrophy and the effect of adenotonsillectomy on subsequent growth in them.

Methods

Ninty-one children adenotonsillectomized had their weights recorded preoperatively, and reweighted twelve months after surgery.

Results

The results showed the patients were generally not underweighted before surgery. Their median weight was on the 59.5 percentile. Their weights after surgery had increased by an average of 20 percent over what would have been expected. This increase in weight was not confined to underweight children but to the entire group.

Conclusion

Upper airway obstruction resulting from adenotonsillar hypertrophy might be suspected as a possible cause in the workup of children with suboptimum growth.

Keywords: Adenotonsillar hypertrophy; Adenotonsillectomy; Growth