Surgical intervention is commonly recommended for pediatric obstructive sleep apnea, but medical therapies may reduce symptoms and delay or avoid the need for surgery in selected children. To assess this approach, a study evaluated intranasal saline and steroids in 150 children (mean age, 6.2 years) with obstructive sleep-disordered breathing (OSDB). All participants received once-daily intranasal saline for six weeks. Following this run-in phase, children with persistent symptoms either continued saline or received once-daily intranasal mometasone furoate for an additional six weeks.
Nearly one-third of children experienced symptom resolution after the initial six weeks of saline alone. Among those with ongoing symptoms who entered the randomized phase, resolution occurred in 35.6% of children treated with the intranasal steroid and 36.4% of those who continued saline. At 12 weeks,…
