Adenoiditis history and symptoms

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Mahshid Mir, M.D. [2]

A positive history of fever and nasal obstruction and snoring are suggestive of adenoiditis. The most common symptoms of adenoiditis include nasal discharge which may be purulent, mouth breathing, nasal pain and sore throat.^[1][2][3]

Obtaining the history is one of the most important aspect of making a diagnosis of adenoiditis. Complete history will help determine the correct therapy. Adenoiditis patients are mostly young children who are not able to give a good history by themselves, therefore the patient interview may be difficult. In these cases history from the care givers or the family members may need to be obtained. Specific histories about the symptoms (duration, onset, progression), and associated symptoms have to be obtained. Specific areas of focus when obtaining the history, are outlined below:

• Onset, duration and progression of symptoms
• Associated symptoms (fever, headache, ear pain)
• Recurrent episodes of upper respiratory tract infection
• Poor feeding
• Attention deficit problems
• Impairment of smell

The symptoms of adenoiditis can last for 10 or more days. Acute adenoiditis is usually presented with nasal symptoms:

• Nasal airway obstruction
• Snoring
• sleep apnea
• Oral breathing

• Sore or dry throat from breathing through the mouth

Other symptoms that mainly observed during chronic inflammation are usually correlated to adenoiditis complications and include:^[4]

• Purulent rhinorrhea
• Nasal obstruction
• Fever
• Ear pain
• Headache
• Sore throat