Adenoidectomy:

The adenoid glands are removed during an adenoidectomy, or adenoid removal. While adenoids aid in the protection of the body against viruses and bacteria, they can become bloated, enlarged, or diseased with time. Infections, allergies, and other factors may be to blame.

The adenoid is surgically removed for a variety of causes, including difficulty breathing through the nose, persistent infections, and recurring earaches. The usefulness of removing adenoids in children for recurring nasal symptoms and/or nasal blockage has not been well researched.

Disease Overview:

Adenoid glands disease

The adenoids are a rectangular mass of lymphatic tissue in the posterior nasopharynx. They are largest in children age 2 to 6 years. Enlargement may be physiologic or secondary to viral or bacterial infection, allergy, irritants, and, possibly, gastroesophageal reflux. Other risk factors include ongoing exposure to bacterial or viral infection (eg, to multiple children at a child care center). Severe hypertrophy can obstruct the eustachian tubes (causing otitis media), posterior choanae (causing sinusitis), or both.

Signs and Symptoms

Although patients with adenoid hypertrophy may not complain of symptoms, they usually have chronic mouth breathing, snoring, sleep disturbance, halitosis, recurrent acute otitis media, conductive hearing loss (secondary to recurrent otitis media or persistent middle ear effusions), and a hyponasal voice quality. Chronic adenoiditis can also cause chronic or recurrent nasopharyngitis, rhinosinusitis, epistaxis, halitosis, and cough.

Disease Cause:

Even though adenoids help filter out germs from your body, sometimes they can get overwhelmed by bacteria and become infected. When this happens they also get inflamed and swollen. This condition is called adenoiditis. It is most commonly seen in children, but sometimes affect adults.

Diagnosis:

Flexible nasopharyngoscopy

Adenoid hypertrophy is suspected in children and adolescents with characteristic symptoms, persistent middle ear effusions, or recurrent acute otitis media or rhinosinusitis. Similar symptoms and signs in a male adolescent may result from an angiofibroma.

Children with velopharyngeal insufficiency, eg, due to velocardiofacial syndrome, may produce a hypernasal speech (ie, sounding as if too much air escapes through the nose) that must be differentiated from the hyponasal speech (ie, as with a congested nose) of adenoid hypertrophy.

Disease Treatment

Treatment of Adenoid Disorders:

Underlying allergy is treated with intranasal corticosteroids, and underlying bacterial infection is treated with antibiotics.

Adenoidectomy: It is the surgical removal of the adenoid for reasons which include impaired breathing through the nose, chronic infections, or recurrent earaches.