Syndrome of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Children
What is the syndrome of obstructive sleep apnea in children (OSAS)?
This condition can be observed in children between the year and six appear in 2-3% of children. It is characterized by the child snores so striking, breathes with mouth open and also have periods of apnea (breathing pauses long) of at least 10 seconds and lack of oxygen in the blood. It is the most common sleep pathology in both children and adults.
What causes it?
Most cases of obstruction of the upper airway in children is caused by hypertrophy of the adenoids and tonsils, but we must consider other possibilities such as deviated septum, polyps, laryngomalacia, etc. ..
How do we know if our child has OSA?
Parents often hear that children sleep snore heavily and can hear him from outside his room. The child will look awkward positions in order to breathe better, despite the dream which is irregular, moving much and wake up throughout the night. If you look next to the snoring there are times when the child stops breathing, for this apnea diagnosis must be greater than 10 seconds. When studying apnea is a decrease of blood oxygen (hypoxemia) and increased CO2 (hypercapnia).
The consequences are the appearance of daytime sleepiness in older children and school delays due to lack of attention.
Is there a cure?
The treatment is the cause that produces it, when it comes to an increase of tonsils and adenoids is effective surgical treatment, but may grow back partly.