Adenoids, also known as proliferators, are lymphoid tissues that have certain immune effects. Do I need surgery for adenoid hypertrophy? Before answering this question, let’s briefly understand the anatomical location of the adenoids and the diseases that may result from hypertrophy. Anatomy and lesions: The adenoids are located in the nasopharynx, near the opening of the Eustachian tube on the left and right, and in front of the posterior nostril. If the adenoids are enlarged, the following main manifestations may occur: 1. Nasal congestion, chronic rhinitis, and chronic sinusitis. Children often say that their noses are not ventilated and they have a runny yellow nose. This is caused by the posterior nostril being blocked by adenoids. Long-term chronic hypoxia may lead to the child’s inability to concentrate in class and learning may be affected. Long-term chronic rhinitis sinusitis will also be lesioned accordingly. 2. Ear congestion, poor hearing, and otitis media. This is the adenoids compressing the opening of the eustachian tube leading to chronic secretory/catarrhal otitis media, and in severe cases, glue ear and purulent otitis media. 3. Sleep snoring and open-mouth breathing. This is due to the blockage of the upper airway by the hypertrophic adenoids, which forces the child to open his mouth to breathe. Some children also have combined tonsillar hypertrophy, which makes the airway obstruction more serious. 4. Upper jaw development disorder. Insufficient nasal ventilation and insufficient airflow stress can lead to poor upper jaw development and asymmetrical upper and lower jaw development, resulting in a face similar to a “geoduck”, which seriously affects the child’s appearance. 5. Developmental disorders. Some children with serious conditions even have different degrees of developmental disorders, and are shorter and less responsive than children of the same age. Treatment: I think most parents will be very worried and anxious when the above situation occurs. If not actively treated, it may indeed have a serious impact on the child’s health. In general, surgery is the preferred method of treatment. Commonly used surgical methods are as follows: 1. traditional adenoids scraping method; 2. adenoids shaving system assisted excision; 3. endoscopic low temperature plasma knife assisted minimally invasive excision of adenoids. The surgical method we use: endoscopic low-temperature plasma knife assisted minimally invasive adenoidectomy. The main benefits are as follows: 1. minor trauma to protect important structures from damage; 2. cleaner excision; 3. significantly less bleeding; 4. faster postoperative recovery. The timing of surgery: If the child is too young to tolerate general anesthesia, conservative treatment is the first choice, followed by consideration of surgery. If the symptoms caused by adenoid hypertrophy are obvious, age is not an absolute problem. In our hospital, children over the age of 3 can usually safely undergo general anesthesia surgery. Adenoidectomy does not have a significant impact on the child’s immune system because the surgery does not remove all of the lymphatic tissue. Hospitalization time and cost: In general, the hospitalization is about one week, and the total cost of hospitalization and surgery is about several thousand to ten thousand yuan. If you suspect that your child may have adenoid hypertrophy, you are advised to bring your child to the hospital for examination as soon as possible. The specific process is as follows: 1. Register or make an appointment for a doctor’s visit (see clinic hours). If it is difficult to register, you can find me to add a number during my clinic hours. 2. After the doctor examines the child, a hearing test is usually needed to clarify whether there is a problem with the ear, and an appointment is made for an electronic endoscopy to clarify the size and extent of the adenoids. Very young babies are acceptable, although they may feel scared, in fact, electronic endoscopy is very fine and non-invasive. It is not recommended to just have a CT examination of the adenoids locally because it is not intuitive and there is radiation. 3. If, based on the above tests, the doctor determines that the child’s condition requires surgery, he or she will issue a hospitalization certificate and preoperative tests and notify the child of the hospitalization according to the bed arrangement. You must pay attention to keep the phone open. 4. After the hospitalization, there will be a resident doctor in charge of your child to complete the hospitalization documents, and the chief surgeon will also specifically talk to you in detail about the surgical procedure, surgical risks and post-operative precautions, and complete the pre-operative signature. 5.After the surgery time is determined, the nurse will inform you of the surgery date. The day before the surgery, you will be required to fast from food and water after dinner, and you must take care of your child. The operating room will pick up the child and take him/her to the operating room. After recovering from anesthesia, he/she will be escorted back to the ward. Including the anesthesia waiting time and anesthesia recovery time, the time to enter the operating room will be more than one hour longer than the actual surgery time. 6. After the operation, your child may feel sore throat, uncomfortable, and mildly elevated body temperature, which are generally normal reactions. If you have any special discomfort, you can tell the nurse and the doctor at any time. After discharge from the hospital, you should remember to make an appointment with the doctor for a review. 6. Special reminders: 1. Avoid your child’s cold, fever and cough for 2 weeks before hospitalization. 2. Before and after the surgery, let the child drink more water and eat well-digested food to avoid accumulation of food and fire that may affect the surgery. After the surgery, it is not necessary to give the child “big tonic”. 3. Adenoids are lymphatic tissues in the human body. No matter how clean the surgery is, some children will still have compensatory hyperplasia, which is the natural reaction of the human body. It is possible that a very small number of children will have significant hyperplasia again, causing symptoms and requiring surgery again. This is why regular post-operative review is important and necessary.