Role of paediatric intensive care following adenotonsillectomy for severe obstructive sleep apnoea: criteria for elective admission.

AIMS: This study aimed to critically review our criteria for elective admission to the paediatric intensive care unit following adenotonsillectomy for obstructive sleep apnoea.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

We reviewed 122 children electively admitted between 1997 and 2011. During this time, our criteria for admission evolved.

RESULTS

In these 122 children, the respiratory disturbance index during rapid eye movement sleep ranged from 6 to 159 (mean, 83). Forty-one per cent of the children had a recognised co-morbidity. Nine children required extra intervention, i.e. in addition to re-positioning and/or supplemental oxygen. One child was an unplanned re-admission after discharge from the paediatric intensive care unit. Over the same period, five children required unplanned transfers into the paediatric intensive care unit following adenotonsillectomy for sleep-disordered breathing.

CONCLUSION

Based upon these results, we describe our current criteria for elective admission to the paediatric intensive care unit following adenotonsillectomy for severe obstructive sleep apnoea.