Has anyone had experience with a young child getting adenoids or tonsils removed?

[Anonymous]

My DS went through the surgery at 3, he had severe obstructive sleep apnea. We went to Hopkins. He woke up from surgery super hungry, so I took advantage of the pain meds that had not worn off and grabbed something from the hospital cafeteria for him. He gobbled most of it down to my surprise...I tried to pace him to no avail. He was discharged the same day.

I followed the nurse's advice to stay ahead of the pain with the medicine (he was only taking Motrin and Tylenol, no prescriptions). That system worked well. I gave him liquids and what little soft foods he would tolerate about an hour after the medicine to take advantage of the peak reduced pain moments. We stayed alert for the bleeding issue, but nothing happened there. No screaming or crying fits, just whiny times.

After the first week things started to improve. The second week off was definitely needed as he continued to heal and regain his strength. I would say it was worth it as he is just a happier kid who sleeps a ton better.

[Anonymous]

Our DC had a great outcome, he no longer had sleep apnea and was no longer constantly sick. However, we had a hard time getting him well enough to undergo surgery. He finally went in with a slight cold (the healthiest we could get him) and had a bronchospasm during surgery. That could have been very serious but luck was with us and everything turned out alright.

[Anonymous]

For those that are arguing that its not necessary or over performed - I doubt you have had a child that desparately needed it. Our DS had non stop strep infections - impacting our entire lives and his schooling because he was constantly sick, he lost weight, was always tired and always sick. Once the surgery was over our doctor came and told us if we had any doubts that his 5 year old tonsils were so riddled with infection that they appeared to be that of an adults tonsils. He told us our son would never have been able to fit off the infections and would have used so many antibiotics that the meds would no longer be useful when he was sick. BEST DECISION EVER. no regrets whatsever.

[Anonymous]

It's easy to say that it was the best decision ever when your child wasn't one of the 1%. Just bear in mind that there is the 1%. For that 1% it can be a deadly procedure. That is 1 in 100 kids.

[Anonymous]

We had DS adenoids removed at 2.5 years old (after having constant sinus infections). It was scary seeing him put under and he was crabby waking up but his recovery was very smooth and he felt better two days later. He was a small scrawny kid before the surgery and he went from being around the 50th percentile to the 80th percentile for height in about a year after the surgery. Remarkable. No more sinus infections, much better sleep, much happier kid! Totally worth it.

[Anonymous]

I think it's a decision that either way has to be based on the needs and individual circumstances of your child, that is made in consultation with doctors you absolutely trust (with second and third opinions as necessary).

There are definitely risks to the surgery, including death (as is a risk in almost every surgery). There are also risks to NOT having the surgery for particular children, which can also include death for some likely tiny percentage of children. The plural of anecdote is not data, but I am aware of a case in which a two year old died in her sleep, most likely because of obstructive sleep apnea from enlarged adenoids and tonsils. She went down for a nap and never woke up.

Most children may not face this serious a risk from their adenoids and tonsils, but I also think the risk of repeated antibiotic treatment should not be underestimated or discounted, particularly with all of the discoveries that scientists have been making about the importance of the microbiome to health. The point is, you can look at data but you have to be comfortable with your n=1 decision based on the best information you can get.

This is my own anecdote about my tonsillectomy as an adult, but it hurt like hell. I would definitely be prepared for your child to be miserable and not want to swallow his/her own saliva even. Also, cold, soft, non-acid food and beverages are soothing -- peach and pear nectar were all I could handle, even over water.

Make sure you are fully informed by your doctor about pain relief options (and nausea relief if necessary as you do not want your child to vomit under any circumstances post-surgery!).

As with others, my tonsillectomy was 100% curative -- 4-6 bouts of strep throat a year before, zero after (even with exposure to my kids' strep throats).

Best of luck to you and your family, OP.

[Anonymous]

Age 4 tonsils and adenoids out. Worst week of my and kid's life. He's 19 now and it absolutely sucked. Couldn't take fluids, horrendous pain, no sleep, doped up on codeine. Took a week to be mostly back to normal.

[Anonymous]

An article published on Pediatrics found that kids who had fewer than seven strep infections in the prior year or five per year for the prior two years did not benefit from the procedure. It is estimated that as few as two percent of kids who get the procedure meet this criteria.

On the other hand, another study found a third of the kids who got the surgery were readmitted typically for pain issues.

Most kids get sick much less once they get passed a certain age. Correlation is not causation.

[Anonymous]

For those who are saying that their child had sleep apnea, were they actually diagnosed with this (i.e studied in an overnight sleep study?)? Or did you self diagnose this based on snoring? True sleep apnea in children is really rare, I'm surprised to see so many cases of it on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's easy to say that it was the best decision ever when your child wasn't one of the 1%. Just bear in mind that there is the 1%. For that 1% it can be a deadly procedure. That is 1 in 100 kids.

It's more like 1 in 15,000 mortality; your number is for any complications, not death.

[Anonymous]

Do it while they're young. Cannot stress this enough. When you're older, its much worse and way longer recovery time. I'm an ENT assistant

[Anonymous]

My daughter had her adenoids and tonsils removed when she was a young three year old (it was in November, she'd turned 3 in September). We are very, very glad she had the surgery. She had periodic fever syndrome - every five weeks or so, she'd get fevers running from 104-106 degrees, lasting for 4-5 days, with no readily diagnosable underlying illness (no strep, no ear infection, no anything). She was taking alternating does of Tylenol and ibuprofen every few hours to keep her from being horribly uncomfortable. Our bigger concern, beyond dosing her heavily with anti-fever medication for one out of every five weeks, was that we were getting accustomed to her high fevers and getting a bit lax about dragging her to the doctor to be poked, prodded, tested, and dismissed with "it's probably just a virus". We were worried that we could no longer rely on a high fever as a signal to us that there was a real illness - like what if next time it really WAS meningitis, but we figured it was just another round of fevers? Our incredibly amazing pediatrician finally figured out this pattern, identified the fever syndrome, and pediatric specialist recommended tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy as most likely curative treatment. Since her tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy, her crazy fevers are gone. It's been AMAZING. Definitely 100% worth it for her and for our entire family.

Now, for the actual surgery and recovery: anesthesia is scariest for parents, because parents tend to freak out when they see their child looking unnaturally still. Our daughter had no major problems with the anesthesia: went under just fine, came out just fine, no concerns. The rough spot during her immediate recovery was nausea. She ate a bit the same day after surgery, but pretty quickly threw it back up, which made her scared and sad and was painful. She ended up staying overnight in the hospital so they could keep her hydrated and make sure her pain was under control. It was sad for me, but she has literally no memory of it. She has seen pictures of herself at the hospital, but doesn't associate those pictures with a negative experience. Once we were home, she slept, a lot. We made sure to stay ahead on pain control - don't wait for the child to show evidence of pain, just stay on a dosing schedule and keep it under control before it flares up. Our daughter was really weepy for the first few days when not asleep or watching videos, then she was clingy for a few more days, and by the next week the only lingering issue was we had to be mindful not to serve crusty bread, crackers, tortilla chips, or other "sharp" foods. It really, genuinely went well. She bounced back really, really fast.

My number one tip: bring more than one full change of clothes for yourself (including undergarments! my bra had vomit on it, so I walked around with arms crossed over my braless chest whenever I had to speak to medical staff, looking all gruff, when in fact I was just hiding breasts). Bring yourself some snacks and drinks in case you're there for the long haul. Audio books, whatever. You may be spending a lot of hours in the hospital, and it gets LONG when your child is sleeping or staring mindlessly at awful cartoons.

Wishing your child a rapid recovery!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those who are saying that their child had sleep apnea, were they actually diagnosed with this (i.e studied in an overnight sleep study?)? Or did you self diagnose this based on snoring? True sleep apnea in children is really rare, I'm surprised to see so many cases of it on DCUM.

One of the pp's here...yes, my three year old DS was diagnosed after overnight sleep study. The first doctor recommended the surgery "because he most likely has sleep apnea based on what you've told me". I had to request the sleep study, then took the results to another doctor for a second opinion. The decision to go forward with the surgery wasn't made willy nilly.

[Anonymous]

I had my tonsils out in 9th grade. Painful and unpleasant, but manageable, and I only got strep one more time after that (pre-surgery, I was getting it several times a year).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do it while they're young. Cannot stress this enough. When you're older, its much worse and way longer recovery time. I'm an ENT assistant

Not sure what an ENT assistant is, but I would hope if you work in an ENT's office, you are aware that tonsils are full size by the toddler years, and kids grow into them over time. Kids that have moderate issues as toddler's typically grow out of them and do not need the surgery at an older age.

BTW, there is a proven placebo effect with surgery. In my mind, this explains why everyone is so desperate to argue their kid both really needed and really improved after the surgery. The independent peer-reviewed data proves differently -- only a very small proportion of kids who get the surgery benefit from it, and they aren't all the children of people on dcum.