Although unrecognized, obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in children has existed for a long time and in 1889 Hill published a paper explaining the symptoms of OSA in children with nasal and pharyngeal obstructions (1).
According to the ENT-UK (the British Association of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery), about a quarter of the 27,400 paediatric tonsillectomies in 2008-9 in the UK were carried out for obstructive conditions (1).
Cross sectional studies carried out in the UK revealed that 12 % of children were habitual snorers out of which 0.7 % had obstructive sleep apnoea (2)
Prevalence of OSA around the world is estimated to be between 1 and 2% (2)
Reference:
(1) Powell S et al. Paediatric obstructive sleep apnoea. BMJ. 2010;340:c1918
(2) Powell S. Clinical review: Paediatric obstructive sleep apnoea. GPonline 2011
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