How do you treat sleep apnea in children? Can medicine help?

What medicines may treat sleep apnea in children? Following a sleep study diagnosing sleep apnea,  This article shows that a commonly prescribed medicine for allergies might help to treat sleep apnea. - JR

Pediatrics. 2012 Sep;130(3):e575-80. doi: 10.1542/peds.2012-0310. Epub 2012 Aug 6.

Montelukast for children with obstructive sleep apnea: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Goldbart AD, Greenberg-Dotan S, Tal A.

Source

Department of Pediatrics, Soroka University Medical Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University, POB 151, Beer Sheva, Israel. avivgold@bgu.ac.il

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:

Children with nonsevere obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) benefit from alternative therapeutic interventions such as leukotriene modifiers. We hypothesized that montelukast might improve OSA in children. We tested this hypothesis in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled fashion.

METHODS:

Of 50 possible candidates, we recruited 46 children with polysomnographically diagnosed OSA. In this prospective, double-blind, randomized trial, children received daily oral montelukast at 4 or 5 mg (<6 or="or">6 years of age, respectively) or placebo for 12 weeks. Polysomnographic assessments, parent questionnaires, and radiographs to assess adenoid size were performed before and after therapy.

RESULTS:

Compared with the 23 children that received placebo, the 23 children that received montelukast showed significant improvements in polysomnographic measures of respiratory disturbance (obstructive apnea index), children's symptoms, and adenoid size. The obstructive apnea index decreased by >50% in 65.2% of treated children. No attrition or side effects occurred.

CONCLUSIONS:

A 12-week treatment with daily, oral montelukast effectively reduced the severity of OSA and the magnitude of the underlying adenoidal hypertrophy in children with nonsevere OSA.