The importance of pulmonary function tests in adenotonsillectomy indications.

Children who had undergone adenotonsillectomy for recurrent adenotonsillitis showing no signs of clinical or radiological obstructive manifestations were evaluated with pulmonary function tests before, and one month after the operation. In relation to the result obtained by function tests, 60% of 45 cases (27) had the findings of mild obstructive pulmonary disease whereby these findings were in transient character that vanished after the operation. The following parameters were measured and found that they were all increased, mean FVC from 82.22 +/- 6.82 to 93.11 +/- 7.81 (p < 0.01), mean PEF from 77.60 +/- 8.38 to 88.60 +/- 5.57 (P < 0.01), mean FEVI from 74.28 +/- 11.68 to 90.15 +/- 7.28 (p < 0.01), mean FEF 25 from 71.44 +/- 11.53 to 83.53 +/- 6.40 (p < 0.01), mean FEF 50 from 69.53 +/- 14.53 to 84.37 +/- 7.72 (p < 0.01), mean FEF 75 from 70.08 +/- 12.15 to 85.48 +/- 7.15 (p < 0.01). In conclusion, pulmonary function tests could reveal the obstructive effects of adenotonsillar hypertrophy with no clinical or radiological obstructive findings, and could be useful in surgical indications of adenotonsillar hypertrophy dur to recurrent infections in children.