RESUMEN
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Adenoid enlargement occurs most commonly between the age of three and ten. Atrophy usually begins at the age of ten and is completed before the age of twenty. In recent years, an increasing number of adolescents undergoing adenoidectomy has been noticed. We investigated the age change in 1990s. MATERIALS AND METHOD: A retrospective study was performed on 1,198 patients who underwent adenoidectomy due to adenoid vegetation confirmed by physical, radiologic, and endoscopic studies. The mean age was analyzed annually and the period of 1990s was divided into the first (from January 1990 to December 1994) and second half (from January 1995 to December 1999). In addition, the same analysis was performed for each age group below ten and above eleven. RESULTS: The study showed that the mean age of study population was 7.35, with the mean age of the first half being 7.10 and the second 7.52. Specifically, the mean age of the group below ten was 6.37 in the first half and 6.16 in the second half, and the group above eleven was 12.56 in the first half and 13.32 in the second half. CONCLUSION: The mean age of the patients who underwent adenoidectomy have increased during the econd half, especially in the age groups greater more than eleven.