Photobiomodulation for Pediatric Hypertrophic Tonsils

Pediatric obstructive sleep apnea is a medical condition where a child has great difficulty with breathing, or stops breathing all together, while asleep. This is a medical condition for which the primary treatment is usually a surgery targeted towards removing swollen tonsils and adenoids. However, surgical removal of tonsils and adenoids comes with its own risks of complications during and after surgery including secondary hemorrhage and long term increased risks for respiratory and infectious diseases. Perhaps more importantly, surgical removal of swollen tonsils and adenoids does not guarantee successful treatment of a child's obstructive sleep apnea. The use of laser light therapy in a non-cutting manner (known as photobiomodulation and abbreviated as PBM) has been a relatively new development within medicine. Recently, dentists have begun to use PBM as a method to treat adult snor