Prevalence of electronic smoking exposure and tonsillectomy surgery in children

The hypothesis tested was the negative impact of electronic smoke exposure on the developing of respiratory infection, specifically in the upper tract. In this study, we aimed to investigate if smoke exposure increased the number of tonsillectomy surgery in children compared to the hernia repair control group.

The design of our study was retrospective case-control. We retrospectively reviewed medical records or children of up to 12 years of age that were admitted for tonsillectomy at King Abdullah University Hospital (KAUH) from January 2019 to December 2023 to determine exposure to both electronic and tobacco smoking. Records of hernia repair surgery children aged 12 and less at this facility were also retrospectively reviewed for both electronic and tobacco smoke exposure during the same period. Data was collected from medical records and phone call interviews with the patients and their families.

A total of 743 children were included, 64 % were males. The participants were divided into two groups: 439 had recurrent tonsillitis and needed tonsillectomy, the other 304 underwent hernia repair surgery (control group). Overall, 28 % of children were exposed to electronic smoking, 29 % to tobacco smoking, and 5.9 % to both. Electronic and tobacco smoke exposure was significantly evident among the tonsillectomy group compared to the hernia group. Logistic regression analysis showed that exposure to electronic smoking (OR: 2.74) and tobacco smoking (OR: 2.47) were significantly associated with an increased likelihood of undergoing tonsillectomy. However, patients with exposure to both smoking types did not show a significant link, while the absence of any smoking exposure was significantly associated to lower odds of tonsillectomy.

Children who underwent tonsillectomy had a higher likelihood of being exposed to tobacco or electronic smoking compared to children in the hernia repair surgery group.