Abstract:

Although, in practice it has been believed that linear growth, and weight of the children who underwent adenotonsillectomy increase, however this presumption has not been proved by adequate number of studies performed using objective parametres. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of adenotonsillectomy upon growth and growth biomarkers. This study was carried out from January 2007 to January 2008 in a tertiary care hospital. Twenty-eight prepubertal children including 20 boys and 8 girls participated in our study. The mean age at surgery was 6.78±2.58 years (range 4-13 years). Weight and height measurements of all subjects, and also IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 serum levels with standard deviation scores were evaluated before and 1-6 months after adenotonsillectomy. Serum levels of IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 were significantly higher at 1 month and 6 months after adenotonsillectomy compared to preoperative levels (p<0.001). Also Serum levels of IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 were significantly higher at postoperative 6 months compared to at postoperative 1 month (p<0.001). A positive correlation detected between the rise of serum levels of IGF-1 and IGFBP-3, and the weight gain and linear growth in all of the 28 patients who were included in this study. A positive correlation was demonstrated between increments in weight and length and IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 serum.

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