Asthma Outcomes in Children After Adenotonsillectomy

Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children ,in children younger than six years it is difficult to diagnose asthma as pulmonary function tests can not be performed reliably before the age six .

Wheezing is one of the main symptoms of asthma. Young children with multiple trigger wheeze as activities ,laughing and crying are more likely to have asthma compared with episodic (viral) wheeze.

The mainstay of asthma control is daily administration of inhaled corticosteroids, long acting beta2 agonists and avoid exposure of asthma triggers as seasonal allergens and environmental pollution particularly tobacco smoke exposure.

Recent studies have found asthma to be associated with overlapping comorbidities including gastroesophageal reflux,obesity and obstructive sleep apnea.This studies have introduced therapeutic strategies aimed at improving asthma control by management of these coexisting conditions.

Pathophysiological feature of childhood obstructive sleep apnea is presence of increased airway inflammation promoting of hypertrophy of upper airway adenotonsillar tissues .

The latter promotes increased pharyngeal resistance thus predispose the upper airway to episodically collapse and cause fragmented sleep that characterize obstructive sleep apnea.

Surgically adenotonsillectomy is the first line of therapy in childhood obstructive sleep apnea and has favorable outcomes ,including improvements of respiratory sleep disturbances and in reducing markers of asthma and reduction in the use of asthma therapies.