Infant Apnea: How To Detect And Treat

Often, for no apparent reason, we may notice that a child wakes up several times during the night. This can be caused by childhood apnea, a disorder that is difficult to detect but with serious consequences for the body.

Infant apnea, also called sleep apnea in children, occurs when breathing is interrupted during rest. It affects approximately 2% of children worldwide and, in addition, it is believed that there are many cases that are still undiagnosed.

How does breathing interruption happen? This is because the airways are partially or totally obstructed. As a result, the air cannot pass normally and, in most cases, the child wakes up in a few moments.

During sleep, the muscles of the body are relaxed. However, the muscles involved in breathing remain active, as this is a vital function. Children who have a narrow throat often suffer from this problem because there is no room for the necessary amount of air to pass.

The presence of adenoids, inflammation of the tonsils, certain palate shapes, or poor muscle tone (usually caused by more severe syndromes) can also cause apnea.

What are the symptoms of childhood apnea?

Infant apnea is, in many cases, difficult to detect. Below are the most common symptoms:

• Snoring, caused by difficulty breathing. Not all children who snore necessarily suffer from infant apnea. This symptom can also be an indicator of other disorders.
• Tiredness and restless sleep. It is also quite common to wake up frequently at night.
• Sleep-walking.
• Perspiration.
• Enuresis, ie, the involuntary emission of urine during sleep.

daytime symptoms

However, other symptoms (perhaps the easiest ones to detect) may appear during the day. It is during this period that the child shows the true consequences of poor rest at night.

You should pay attention if your child has any of these signs:

• Fatigue, tiredness and irritability. Poor rest can affect a child’s state of mind as well as their willingness to engage in activities. There is no disposition even for activities that the child likes to do.
• Headaches. They usually reappear throughout the day and some episodes are pretty strong.
• Problems with learning, concentration and attention. If a child who is generally doing well in school shows these symptoms, it could be a sign that he is not sleeping well.

• Conduct problems. Also linked to the above, the negative changes that the lack of sleep causes in the body can also affect the behavior of the affected person.

Child Apnea Treatment

If the symptoms listed above are detected, it is ideal to see a pediatrician. Some people also recommend consulting an otolaryngologist, pulmonologist, neurologist, or other specialists knowledgeable about sleep disorders.

The most common test performed to detect infant apnea is a polysomnography. This exam allows evaluating the functions of the patient’s vital organs in the resting phase. Thus, it is possible to discover any anomaly in any organ, including the airways.

Once the problem is discovered, childhood apnea can be treated in the following ways:

1. Extraction of adenoids or tonsils. Since apnea can be caused by inflammation in either of the two, the solution is often to remove them. It is an extremely common process for current medicine and poses no risk to the child. Furthermore, it is extremely effective in treating childhood apnea.
2. Continuous nasal air pressure. CPAP, acronym for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure. This treatment consists of using a sleep mask that puts pressure on the nose and basically “pushes” air into the lungs. In this way, the patient is forced to breathe. It is usually used when operation on the adenoids or tonsils does not work or cannot be performed.
3. Other surgeries. In addition to the above, the surgical procedure can also be used to extract excess tissue from the back of the throat that prevents the normal passage of air, correct structural problems that the palate may present or, in more severe cases, create an opening in the trachea and thus allow breathing. This, however, happens very rarely.
4. Braces. The simplest of treatments. It consists of using a device similar to the protector that athletes wear, whose purpose is to keep the airways open.

Recommendations

Finally, it is important to highlight that there are other procedures that, despite not providing a cure, contribute to the improvement of the problem. In case of obesity, for example, weight loss is essential.

On the other hand, children with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy or craniofacial deformities will also be more likely to have infant apnea. In these cases, the treatment will be determined by a professional, taking into account the child’s particularities and needs.