Other practitioners are welcome to copy and use this material, but by permission only please. Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy for Obstructive Sleep Apnea Douglas Hoffman, M.D., Ph.D. Sleep apnea is an illness in which breathing halts momentarily during sleep. Apnea is the medical term for this failure to breathe. In children, the usual cause for this obstruction is large tonsils and adenoids. The surgeries to remove the tonsils and adenoids are tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy, respectively.
Steroids tend to have only temporary benefit and have numerous potential side effects.
CPAP is usually tolerated by children but may not work well if the tonsils and adenoids are very large. In particular, obese children may continue to have significant OSA despite having their tonsils and adenoids removed. OSA can harm your child in many ways. It is performed under general anesthesia. This is the most serious risk of surgery.