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Black children face higher risk for complications after adenotonsillectomy
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Black children were twice as likely to experience complications after adenotonsillectomy as other children, according to results of a Canadian retrospective cohort study published online.
Evelyn Constantin, MD, MSc, of Montreal Children’s Hospital, and colleagues published data on nearly 600 children who were admitted after an adenotonsillectomy between 2002 and 2006. The researchers used results of a standard preoperative sickle cell test as a proxy for African American ethnicity.
The researchers found that 74 of the 594 children had some type of respiratory complication (12.5%). These children share specific characteristics, including black ethnicity (P=.01); were aged 2 years or younger (P<.001); had lower weight-for-age z scores (P=.04); had experienced apnea (P=.003); and were likely to have comorbidities (P<.001).
“The propensity for African American children to experience perioperative respiratory complications of adenotonsillectomy is likely multifactorial and may include biological/physiologic and environmental/socioeconomic factors,” the researchers wrote.
However, they concluded that, “Ethnicity may be an additional independent risk factor for clinicians to consider when planning for adenotonsillectomy.”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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