Modification of growth, immunologic and feeding parameters in children with OSAS after adenotonsillectomy

Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome can cause growth delay in children. Adeno-tonsillectomy can resolve the syndrome in most cases. The aim of our study is to examine modifications in clinical and laboratory growth and immunological parameters and food intake changes in OSAS children after surgery. Twenty-eight children with severe OSAS associated with adeno-tonsillar hypertrophy were submitted to paediatric evaluation to calculate auxologic parameters (weight, height, BMI and standard deviation scores), a blood draw to evaluate growth (GH; IGF-1) and immunological parameters (IgG; IgA; IgM) and a dietitian evaluation to calculate caloric intake before and after 3 months following adeno-tonsillectomy. Mean height and weight values in the study group were slightly inferior to same-age children mean according to the percentile values. After surgery, both height and BMI increased significantly at 3-months follow-up: mean height increased 2.93 cm (p = 0.0001); BMI values greatly increased by 0.72 kg/m² (p = 0.009). Standard deviation scores increased significantly for height (p = 0.03), weight (p = 0.001) and BMI (p = 0.001). These values significantly increased, despite almost unchanged caloric intake between the pre- and post-surgery period (90 ± 24 vs 91 ± 27 kcal/kg/day; p > 0.05). In all children, age-related GH values were normal and did not show any significant increase, while IGF-1 values significantly increased during the study period (p = 0.01). Regarding immunological parameters, only IgA levels decreased after surgery and maintained a value that was higher than normal (> 70 mg/dL). In conclusion, children affected by adenotonsillar hypertrophy and OSAS do not show significant growth delay, but they do experience a slowdown in growth rate. After adeno-tonsillectomy, the speed of growth soon increases, as weight and growth increase notwithstanding an unchanged food intake. Moreover, surgery does not cause reduction in the efficiency of the immune system.