Abstract
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a form of sleep-disordered breathing that occurs in children of all ages, which may cause intermittent hypoxemia, leading to significant neurocognitive (Brockmann et al., Sleep Med 16:1077–1083, 2015) and cardiovascular consequences (Gozal and Kheirandish-Gozal, Curr Opin Pulm Med 13:505–509, 2007). Surgical removal of enlarged tonsils and adenoids (i.e., adenotonsillectomy) is the most commonly used treatment for OSA (Marcus et al., Pediatrics 130:576–584, 2012), but it may be painful with potential risk of complications.
Considering local inflammation is present in adenotonsillar tissue in children with OSA, the use of systemic or topical anti-inflammatory agents seems to be an option. Nasal corticosteroids and cysteinyl leukotriene receptor-1 expression are elevated in the tonsillar tissues of children with OSA.
There is a consistent evidence of the use of anti-inflammatory medications in children with mild OSA, which seems to be a promising option for treatment of adenotonsillar hypertrophy and OSA in children.
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Brockmann, P.E., Salinas, K.B. (2021). Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Treatment – Anti-inflammatory Therapy. In: Gozal, D., Kheirandish-Gozal, L. (eds) Pediatric Sleep Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65574-7_38
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