美科学家发现手术治疗可以改善患睡眠呼吸暂停儿童的生命质量

根据一项最新研究的结果：患有阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停（OSA）的儿童，接受手术切除扁桃体以及淋巴腺组织，能够改善生命质量。

先前的研究显示：患睡眠呼吸疾病的儿童生命质量受到损害，影响他们的行为，容易感染，影响他们的气道和呼吸。因此，在近年手术切除扁桃体以及淋巴腺组织的频率不断上升。

该项研究涉及了47例患有疑似睡眠呼吸疾病的儿童。其中，31例儿童、22例男孩以及9例女孩，根据多导睡眠脑电图诊断为OSA。所有患者都推荐进行增殖腺扁桃体切除手术。31例中有22例在6个月后接受了随访。在该组患者中，24例接受了外科手术，5例没有接受手术。

Baylor医学院的Michael G. Stewart主持了这项研究，这些研究人员说：“我们发现与没有接受手术的儿童相比，接受外科手术儿童的生命质量得到了显著改善。即使并不是所有儿童都治愈了OSA，但是生命质量的改善毫无疑问是十分显著的。”这项研究的结果发表在2005年4月《耳鼻喉科头颈外科手术学档案》。

Surgery Benefits Children With Sleep Apnea
 
Children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) who have their tonsils and adenoid tissue surgically removed experience an improved quality of life, according to a new study.

Previous research showed that quality of life is impaired for children with sleep disturbances, affecting behavior, infections, and airway and breathing. Because of this, the frequency of surgery to remove tonsils and adenoid tissue has increased in recent years.

The current study involved 47 children with suspected sleep breathing disturbances. Of these, 31 children, 22 boys and nine girls, were all diagnosed with OSA on the basis of a polysomnogram. Adenotonsillectomy was recommended for all. Of the 31, 29 returned for a six-month followup. Of that group, 24 had undergone surgery, while five had not.

“We found significantly larger quality-of-life changes in children who underwent surgery compared with children without surgery,” said the researchers. “Even though not all children were cured of OSA, the improvement in quality of life was nevertheless significant.” The study was conducted by Michael G. Stewart, M.D., of the Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, TX, USA), and colleagues. Their findings were reported in the April 2005 issue of Archives of Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery.