The impact of adenotonsillectomy on dysphagia and growth in pediatric patients: A prospective study

To investigate whether adenotonsillectomy (AT) surgery improves swallowing functions and has a positive effect on weight gain and development in paediatric patients.

Between January and August 2023, the Pediatric Eating Assessment Tool-10 (PEDI-EAT-10) was administered preoperatively, at the first postoperative month, and at the sixth postoperative month to pediatric patients aged 2-14 years who presented to our clinic for adenotonsillectomy (AT). Additionally, patient' age, sex, physical examination findings, and height and weight percentiles were recorded. The same measurements were performed on children aged 2-14 years who presented to our clinic for otoplasty. Statistical analysis of the study data was conducted using SPSS 26.0.

In our study, the preoperative PEDI-EAT-10 scores of the AT group were significantly higher than those of the control group (p < 0.001). During the 6 month follow up, changes in height and weight percentiles and PEDI-EAT-10 scores were found to be statistically significantly different between the case and control groups (p < 0.001). There was a statistically significant correlation between improvements in PEDI-EAT-10 scores over six months and concurrent increases in both height and weight percentiles (p < 0.001, p < 0.001). Furthermore, in the case group, no correlation was found between tonsil grade and the 6-month change in PEDI-EAT-10 scores (p = 0.313).

Our study demonstrates that children undergoing AT due to various indications experience an improvement in dysphagia scores and a significant increase in height and weight percentiles postoperatively. Dysphagia may be a contributing factor influencing the growth and development of children who are candidates for AT.