Don’t think that only adults snore, but children snoring has a greater impact on the body. Children snoring is mostly caused by excessive enlargement of tonsils and adenoids, resulting in narrowing of the upper airway, and the pressure of airflow causes the soft palate to vibrate and make snoring sounds. Snoring in children can cause inattention and hyperactivity, and in heavy cases, poor mental performance in daytime classes affects learning. Research shows that long-term snoring exists hypoxic asphyxia, which can affect the brain development of children.
The treatment of snoring in children firstly has to solve the problem of allergy, because we found that many snoring children have allergic diseases such as allergic rhinitis and asthma.
The next step is to surgically remove the tonsils and adenoids. The tonsils are located in the oropharyngeal part of the mouth, that is, in the palatal arch on both sides of the tongue, and the size of the tonsils is not the same for everyone. The main function of the tonsils is that it is one of the lymphatic tissues of the oral lymphatic ring, which has the function of resisting germs and preventing harmful substances from the outside world. This function is very important in young children under the age of 3. As children grow older, the role of maintaining resistance changes to the liver, and if the tonsils are frequently inflamed, the lymphatic tissue inside the tonsils can become fibrotic and lose its ability to fight off foreign germs. Many parents worry that removing the tonsils will affect their child’s immunity. Whether or not to remove the tonsils depends on the circumstances, and there is no evidence that these two glands are associated with immunity in older children. However, young children under 3 years of age and those with bleeding tendencies and combined cleft palate are generally not eligible for surgery.
Surgery of the tonsils and adenoids in children is now quite common and generally involves general anesthesia. Minimally invasive surgery, i.e., a power system for cutting and suction or low-temperature plasma radiofrequency, is recommended and has the advantage of short operative time, reduced bleeding and postoperative pain and generally good postoperative results. A relatively common complication is postoperative bleeding, which occurs approximately 24 hours after surgery and about 7 to 10 days after surgery, with a low incidence of about 3%.