Is day stay adenotonsillectomy safe in children with mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnoea? A retrospective review of 100 patients.

Objective: This study explored the perioperative course of 100 children with polysomnogram (PSG) proven mild to moderate OSA to evaluate if day stay adenotonsillectomy is safe.

Methods: A retrospective chart review of patients who had undergone tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy following an overnight PSG at The Children's Hospital at Westmead Sleep Laboratory. 263 records were reviewed. Patients with apnoea hypopnea index (AHI) ≥ 1 and <15/h and/or a final sleep study report of mild to moderate OSA were included. Exclusion criteria were age <3 years, weight <10 kg, or any significant co-morbidities or other surgery that would preclude day stay surgery. Demographic, PSG and post-operative data was analyzed.

Results: No major respiratory complications occurred. No patient required an unplanned medical review for respiratory concerns, or admission to a high care facility. Eleven children left recovery with oxygen prescribed. One child had a desaturation to 88% in recovery, and one child had laryngospasm. The nine other children required oxygen to maintain saturation >90%. Supplemental oxygen was prescribed to 7 patients on the ward. Of these, three patients received supplemental oxygen beyond 6h. The other 97 patients had an uncomplicated post-operative course and would have been suitable for day-stay surgery. Increasing severity of OSA grade on pre-operative PSG was significantly associated with post-operative supplemental oxygen use (p=0.003; Cochrane-Armitage test for trend).

Conclusions: Children who are otherwise well with mild to moderate OSA have a sufficiently low risk of respiratory complications following adenotonsillectomy to permit day-stay surgery in the setting of appropriate facilities with careful post-operative monitoring for the first 6h to identify a small sub-group who require overnight observations.