Vegetations in children, when do you have to operate?
The problem of inflamed vegetations is frequent and very annoying. However, we must be vigilant to detect them in young children. His healing does not present difficulties, if the case is not serious, since the vegetations They will be sending little by little. Otherwise, they need a small surgical intervention.
The Vegetations of children They are also called adenoids and are found in the upper part of the throat, behind the nose and roof of the palate. The vegetations are two spongy tissue masses, located on each side of the throat that help protect us from some diseases. It is, therefore, a defense fabric, and for this reason it is the small children who usually present inflammation of vegetations, since their defenses are still strengthening and they are very vulnerable to external agents.
Symptoms of inflamed vegetations
The signs of infected adenoids are very characteristic and make the life of the affected child very difficult.
- Clogged nose, so you have to breathe through your mouth.
- Noisy breathing.
- Sore throat and difficulty swallowing.
- Problems in the ears, like acute otitis.
- Inflamed lymph nodes.
- Snoring during sleep.
- You can have sleep apnea breaks, that is, breathing stops for a few seconds.
- Night cough.
- Catarrhs and permanent mucus in the nose.
- The affected person speaks as if his nose is blocked.
Surgery as a remedy for vegetations
In the case of vegetations, when do you have to operate? The first thing that can worry the parents in the situation of having to operate on their child's vegetations is if it is a complicated intervention. Luis Alberto Vázquez, pediatrician, tells us that the intervention does not present any difficulty and is very simple. This consists in the extirpation of that overabundant tissue, which is at the bottom of the pharynx. Everything is removed so that there are no relapses, since the vegetations can reproduce if they have not been removed correctly.
Vegetations operation steps
The operation comprises the following steps:
- The intervention is performed in an operating room and general anesthesia is administered.
- The child will be asleep for about 20 minutes.
- The surgeon will access the adenoids through the open mouth and without the need to make any external incision in the throat.
- The vegetations are removed by a series of small incisions inside the throat and cauterizing (or sealing) then the blood vessels.
In most cases, the child has to be in the hospital after the operation between five and 10 hours. Once you return home, you will notice discomfort and pain in the part of the affected throat, so it is recommended that you take soft foods. After a week, everything will return to normal and the area intervened will close naturally, so you do not have to worry about removing stitches.
When to operate the vegetations of children
But the first thing to check is whether the problem of vegetations is really serious enough to resort to the operation, and this will have to answer the otolaryngologist who attends the child. There are children who physically present an aspect that suggests they have breathing problems: open mouth, prominent nose, teeth out * in case of suffering from a strong adenoid inflammation, respiratory problems will occur that will make the life of the child difficult and Will affect the ear and nose. In these cases, surgical intervention will be necessary.
If on the contrary, they are presented vegetations symptoms but do not pose an obstacle for the child, although it is a nuisance, it is better to leave the operation and wait for them to return little by little. The natural evolution of this problem is to increase in the stages of many colds, when children are very small and have few defenses (around 3-5 years). After this stage, the tendency in most cases is atrophy, and the tissue decreases. Therefore, the doctor can recommend to the parents that it is better to wait to see if the natural evolution of the infected adenoids allows not to operate (around 6-8 years).
Teresa Pereda
Adviser: Luis Alberto Vázquez, pediatrician
