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Updated: Jul 19, 2026

Conducting Respiratory Oscillometry in an Outpatient Setting
Published on: April 8, 2022
Pulse-oximetery is useful in determining the indications for adeno-tonsillectomy in pediatric sleep-disordered
Hideyuki Saito1, Kouji Araki, Hiroyuki Ozawa
1Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Keio University School of Medicine, 160-8582, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan. hsaitorl@sc.itc.keio.ac.jp
Objective:
Although first line therapy of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in children is adeno-tonsillectomy, the indications for this operation have not yet been clearly established. We investigated whether pulse-oximetry is useful for determining the optional treatment modality for pediatric SDB.
Method:
Two hundred and thirty-two children presenting with snoring and gasping had their oxygen saturation levels examined during sleep. Among them, 86 underwent on adeno-tonsillectomy and were evaluated pre- and post-surgery. We also examined 25 healthy children as controls.
Results:
Little desaturation was observed in healthy children. The difference in oxygen saturation levels of the patients between pre- and post-surgery was closely correlated with the pre-surgery levels. We examined the reaction operation characteristics and concluded that children with an oxygen desaturation index of 4% or more (ODI4) of more than 1.5 and/or ODI3 of more than 3.5 should undergo surgery.
Conclusion:
Pulse-oximetry is useful in determining the indications for adeno-tonsillectomy.
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