Have you ever wondered if your patient's snoring is concerning or not? Learn about how we screen for obstructive sleep apnea in pediatric patients in this episode.

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This episode was written by pediatricians Lidia Park, Tammy Yau, and Jessica Ahn with content support from Ambika Chidambaram (UCD pediatric pulmonology). Pediatricians Tammy and Lidia take full responsibility for any errors or misinformation.

Key Points

• Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) occurs when there is either complete or partial narrowing of the upper airway during sleep that causes an awakening from sleep and/or results in at least 3% drop in oxygen saturation and lasts 2 breath lengths.
• Symptoms of OSA can include episodes of apnea, gasping, choking, frequent awakenings, sleep enuresis, attention difficulties, behavioral problems, daytime sleepiness.
• On physical exam, watch out for enlarged tonsils and/or adenoids, micrognathia, retrognathia, or hypotonia.
• Untreated OSA is an independent comorbid factor for many conditions such as failure to thrive, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases like insulin resistance, fatty liver disease, and hypertension.
• Disorders associated with OSA include Down syndrome, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Prader Willi, achondroplasia, hypothyroidism, and acromegaly.
• The gold standard for diagnosis of OSA is polysomnography and is based off of AHI scores: 1-5 is mild, 6-10 is moderate, and 11 or greater is severe.
• First line treatment for most children is adenotonsillectomy. If this fails, second line treatment is CPAP or BiPAP.

References

• Krishna J, Kalra M, McQuillan ME. Sleep disorders in childhood. Pediatrics in Review. 2023;44(4):189-202. doi:10.1542/pir.2022-005521
• American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Obstructive Sleep Apnea.; 2008. https://aasm.org/resources/factsheets/sleepapnea.pdf. Accessed October 29, 2024.
• Benedek P, Balakrishnan K, Cunningham MJ, et al. International Pediatric Otolaryngology group (IPOG) consensus on the diagnosis and management of pediatric obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology. 2020;138:110276. doi:10.1016/j.ijporl.2020.110276
• Basha S, Bialowas C, Ende K, Szeremeta W. Effectiveness of adenotonsillectomy in the resolution of nocturnal enuresis secondary to obstructive sleep apnea. The Laryngoscope. 2005;115(6):1101-1103. doi:10.1097/01.mlg.0000163762.13870.83