THE EFFECT OF THE ADENOID HYPERTROPHY RATE ON UPPER AIRWAY OBSTRUCTION SYMPTOMS

Objectives: Adenoid hypertrophy causes upper airway obstruction symptoms. Main target of adenoidectomy is to overcome nasal obstruction. However adenoid hypertrophy is also related with sleep problems and nasal discharge. In this study our aim was to determine the relation and correlation between the size of adenoid tissue and symptoms of upper airway obstruction. Patients and Method: Patients who had adenoidectomy operation in university hospital were called for a follow-up control. The preand post-operative adenoid size of patients was determined endoscopically and these values were compared with symptoms of nasal obstruction, fatigue during exercise, mouth breathing during sleep, snoring and nasal discharge that evaluated with visual analog scale. Results: A considerably high correlation was found between the adenoid size and the total symptom scores. Question-based evaluation did not reveal a significant correlation between the adenoid size and nasal discharge. Conclusion: Size of adenoid tissue has high effect on symptoms of nasal obstruction and sleep disorder. In studies which polysomnography are used for evaluating the success of adeno-tonsillectomy operations; nasal endoscopy should be performed to search for any residual or recurrent adenoid tissue before polysomnography.