Nutritional evaluation in surgical treatment of children with hypertrophic tonsils and or adenoids.

Eighty seven children, between 2 and 10 years of age were studied. Twenty four had adenotonsillar hypertrophy and underwent surgery (Group I). Fifteen had adenoidal hypertrophy and underwent surgery (Group II). Thirty three had adenotonsillar hypertrophy and not undergo surgery (Group III), and 15 had adenoidal hypertrophy and did not have surgery (Group IV). ENT examination and fiberoptic examination of the adenoids were performed. Height and weight were measured at 2 points, 4 months apart. The heights and weights were marked on the National Center for Health Statistics Percentiles (NCHS) percentiles and the children were classified by Jelliffe's criterions. The results showed children were generally not underweight before surgery (8.8% of the adenotonsillar hypertrophy and 10% of the adenoidal hypertrophy were underweight). In Group I there was a significant increase in growth 4 months after surgery.