Once a doctor determines, by X-rays or by looking into the baby's nose with a tiny viewing tube, that the adenoids are so big that they block air flow, surgery can quickly correct this potentially life-threatening problem.
A generation ago, most older children had their tonsils and adenoids removed because of recurrent infections, says Dr. Mark Volk, an otolaryngologist at Children's and a member of the executive committee on head and neck problems for the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Now, the chief reason is upper airway obstruction, which often results in breathing problems during sleep. Typically, the signs include snoring, mouth breathing, and restless sleep. Because sleep-deprived children, unlike adults, often manifest sleep deprivation by hyperactivity during the day, many are misdiagnosed with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder.
A large National Institutes of Health study underway at Children's Hospital Boston and elsewhere is designed to determine whether removing tonsils and adenoids from children between the ages of 5 and 10 with obstructed breathing improves learning and behavior. For more information on that study, contact Dr. Eliot Katz at eliot.kat@childrens.harvard.edu.
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