Effectiveness of tonsillectomy in adult sleep apnea syndrome

Tonsillectomy was performed on 10 adult sleep apnea patients (five males, five females; average age, 39 years old; average body mass index, 24.8 kg/m2). Tonsillectomy alone was indicated if tonsillar hypertrophy was moderate to severe and the length of the soft palate was less than 35 mm according to cephalometry. Remarkable improvements were observed in all cases following surgery. The average weight of the resected tonsils was 11 g. The patients demonstrated a preoperative apnea + hypopnea index (AHI) of 14.4/h. This decreased to 2.9/h postoperatively. The intraesophageal pressure change improved from -36.6 to -15.7 cmH2O following surgery. A significant correlation between preoperative AHI and the degree of obesity (r=0.684, P < 0.05) was found. Although uvulopalatopharyngoplasty has been used extensively to treat sleep apnea, the present results suggests that certain subjects can be effectively treated through only tonsillectomy.