Relationship between obstructive sleep apnea and difficulty of anesthesia induction in children undergoing tonsillectomy.

Objective: To determine whether anesthesiologists need to rely on polysomnography (PSG) when predicting need for airway intervention during induction in patients with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB).

Methods: Prospective case-control observational study at a tertiary care pediatric hospital. Children between the ages of 2-17 undergoing tonsillectomy were divided into three groups: those presenting with OSA observed by history and/or physical examination alone (SDB; n = 33), those with OSA determined by preoperative PSG (OSA; n = 32), and a control group (n = 35) undergoing tonsillectomy for recurrent tonsillitis.