A new study – whose results were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association for Children – revealed that early surgical intervention to remove the tonsils may be effective in improving the health of children with mild self -cutting during sleep, which reduces the need for doctor visits and medical prescriptions.
The study was conducted on 381 children between the ages of 3 and 13 years suffering from mild breathing disorders during sleep, after they were divided into two groups, one of which underwent the removal of tonsils early, and the other received traditional medical care without surgery.
After following the children for 12 months, the study revealed that the group that underwent surgery witnessed a 32% decrease in the visits of the doctor and 48% in medical prescriptions compared to the group that was not subject to surgery.
The first author of the study, Susan Ridlain, director of epidemics programs related to sleep medicine and heart disease at Brigham Hospital, explained that the results show that early surgical intervention may reduce the use of health care in general, which supports the importance of early treatment for children with mild breathing disorders during sleep.
The study also showed that children who underwent surgery witnessed a noticeable improvement in the quality of sleep and their general health, which led to a decrease in the need for repeated medical care. Although previous studies have indicated the benefits of tonsils eradication, this study is the first of its kind that assesses the effect of surgical intervention on the use of health care randomly and tightly.