Tonsillectomy Effective for Nocturnal Enuresis in Children With Sleep Apnea

FRIDAY, Feb. 7, 2025 (HealthDay News) — For children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) with nocturnal enuresis (NE), the remission rate of NE is more than half for those undergoing adenoidectomy and/or tonsillectomy, according to a review published online Jan. 25 in the European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology.

Zhe Wang, from the General Hospital of Northern Theater Command in Shenyang, China, and colleagues conducted a systematic review to examine the efficacy of tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy for the treatment of NE in children with OSA.

The researchers found that for children with NE who underwent adenoidectomy and/or tonsillectomy, the combined overall remission (OR), complete remission (CR), and partial remission rates were 67, 57, and 4 percent, respectively. The pooled OR and CR for primary NE were 67 and 59 percent, respectively, in children with OSA. For children treated with adenotonsillectomy, the pooled OR was 72 percent, while the CR was 65 percent. For children older than 5 years with OSA, the pooled OR and CR were 67 and 58 percent, respectively. For postoperative follow-up of no more than three months, the pooled OR and CR were 64 and 52 percent, respectively. Based on randomized controlled trials, the pooled OR and CR of NE were both 37.3 percent.

“We should be relatively cautious in interpreting these results and the actual remission rate may be lower than we expected,” the authors write.

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