Clinical Effect of Partial Tonsillectomy in Preschool Children with OSAHS

Abstract

Background: To explore the optimal surgical approach for preschool children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) by comparing changes in venous hematological parameters, Faces Pain Scale Revision (FPS-R) pain scale scores, and OSA-18 scale scores following two different surgical treatments.
Methods: A total of 83 preschool children with OSA were enrolled, with 42 assigned to the control group (total tonsillectomy with adenoidectomy) and 41 to the experimental group (partial tonsillectomy with adenoidectomy). Preoperative and postoperative (3-day) measurements included cardiovascular disease risk factors, immune-related indicators, perioperative blood loss, postoperative FPS-R pain scale scores, and OSA-18 scale scores.
Results: Comparison between the two groups revealed no significant differences in intraoperative blood loss, primary bleeding, pre- and post-treatment OSA-18 scale scores, C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, cardiovascular disease risk factors, or immune-related indicators (all P > 0.05). However, significant differences were observed in secondary bleeding (P < 0.05) and postoperative FPS-R pain scale grades (P < 0.05). In the control group, pre- and post-treatment antistreptolysin O (ASO) levels showed no significant difference (P> 0.05), whereas in the experimental group, ASO levels decreased significantly (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: Partial tonsillectomy demonstrated comparable efficacy to total tonsillectomy in terms of intraoperative blood loss, reduction of snoring symptoms, and improvement of airway patency, with both procedures achieving stable therapeutic outcomes. No significant differences were observed between partial and total tonsillectomy regarding short-term effects on cardiovascular disease risk factors or immune function. For preschool children with OSA, partial tonsillectomy was superior to total tonsillectomy in reducing postoperative pain, secondary bleeding, and ASO levels.