24 Jun Smaller Kids Gain Weight After Tonsillectomy, But No Increase In Obesity

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Kay W. Chang, MD
Associate Professor of Otolaryngology and Pediatrics
Stanford University
Department of Otolaryngology
Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford
Division of Pediatric Otolaryngology

MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study?

Dr. Chang: At 18 months after surgery, weight percentiles in the study group increased by a mean of 6.3 percentile points, and body mass index percentiles increased by a mean of 8.0 percentile points. The greatest increases in weight percentiles were observed in children who were between the 1st and 60th percentiles for weight and younger than 4 years at the time of surgery. An increase in weight percentile was not observed in children who preoperatively were already above the 80th percentile in weight.

MedicalResearch: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?

Dr. Chang: Adenotonsillectomy does result in weight gain in smaller kids, but does not result in increased rates of obesity.

MedicalResearch: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Dr. Chang: One interesting question to investigate is whether greater degress of obstructive sleep apnea preoperatively correlate with greater weight gain after surgery. Another would be whether there are differences in weight gain pattern between children of different ethnicities.

Citation:

Last Updated on June 24, 2014 by Marie Benz MD FAAD