Childs Adenotonsillectomy

[brimmond2]

My 3/11 son was due to have this procedure today but we were sent home as he has slight cough after just getting over Hand foot & mouth. He suffers with sleep apnea, snoring etc... We were told today that after op he will be monitored in special care unit as lungs take time to adjust to more oxygen etc.. I am very worried after our discussion today, esp about the above, bleeding aspect, pain etc... Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

My son had his adenoids out when he was three. He was monitored in the children's ward for 4 to 6 hours after the op. My understanding was that they wanted to be confident that there was no bleeding. I don't think that pain was an issue. Ds was given a pain killer in the form of a pessary during the operation. Later on any pain was controlled with calpol.

From what I remember the biggest trauma if the operation was the children's nurse suggesting Ds wore a nappy during the op. Ds went ballistic was extremely insulted at the suggestion that he might need a nappy at the age of three. The children's nurse put an incontinance pad under him while he was unconscious.

Thank you so much for info about your experience with your son. Poor toot, wanting him to wear a nappy too! My son sometimes wears a pull up so we should be ok there. I,m worried about the bleeding from the tonsil beds. My husband bled badly after his op & it's still very vivid in my mind, wasn't nice.

Hi OP . When DD2 had her op back in July I very nearly backed out when the surgeon who came to do the initial paperwork and assessment before the operation said that he wouldn't go ahead with the op unless there was a high dependency bed available for DD 'just in case'. This completely freaked me out but he explained that as she was there due to sleep apnoea like your DS, the brain and lungs occasionally overcompensate (or something!) and continue to work hard despite no longer being obstructed and that can sometimes cause problems but he reassured me that it was nothing to worry about and having the HDU bed available was purely a precaution.

I was very worried about post-op bleeding and apparently making sure that they eat and drink as normally as possible as soon as possible is important as it helps with healing. DD refused any form of painkillers after the first couple of days (and I tried everything to try and get her to take some!) and I really was worried that her being in pain would stop her eating/drinking and cause bleeding, but she did heal very quickly and made very little fuss. Hope DS' operation goes ahead soon.

I think that a high dependency bed has to be available for any child who had adenoids removed. It's standard procedure because in the rare event of something going wrong a high dependency unit gives your child the best chance of Survival.

Thank you to everyone for info/advice. Will have to stop reading stuff online & just go with the flow & hope everything goes to plan on the day.