Association of adenotonsillectomy with wheezing episodes in childhood: A secondary analysis of the Childhood Adenotonsillectomy Trial

BackgroundObservational studies suggest that asthma/wheezing improves after adenotonsillectomy (AT). However, there is a paucity of randomized clinical trial (RCT) specifically studying the effects of AT in asthma/wheezing. Therefore, we conducted a post-hoc analysis of the Childhood Adenotonsillectomy Trial (CHAT), the largest RCT of AT in children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) to test the hypothesis that AT would result in fewer wheezing episodes. MethodsIn the CHAT study, 464 children with OSA, aged 5-9 years, were randomized to early AT (n = 226) or watchful waiting with supportive care (WWSC) (n = 227). For this post-hoc analysis, children were categorized as having "any wheezing" versus "no wheezing" at baseline and at 7 months of follow-up. A multivariate analysis was conducted to evaluate the association between "any wheezing" at follow-up and treatment group after controlling for several potential confounders. ResultsChildren in the "any wheezing" group were predominantly black, had more allergic rhinitis, eczema, second-hand smoke exposure, body mass index, apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), and had lower maternal education and family income than those in the "no wheezing group." In the AT arm, the prevalence of wheezing significantly decreased from baseline to follow-up (at 7 months of the intervention) (47% vs. 21.6%, p < 0.001); while in the WWSC arms did not change (45.2% vs. 43.1%, p = 0.67). In the multivariate analysis, second-hand smoke exposure, wheezing at baseline, and belong to WWSC arm (odds ratio: 3.65 [2.16-6.19]) increase the risk of wheezing at follow-up. ConclusionThis study demonstrated that AT decreased the risk of wheezing at 7 months of follow-up.