Review ArticleOpen Access

Adenotonsillectomy in Children with Recurrent Acute Tonsillitis: Review and Implications for Practice Adenotonsillectomy in Recurrent Acute Tonsillitis

Volume 7 - Issue 1

Lorenzo Pignataro¹, Tullio Ibba¹, Paola Marchisio² and Sara Torretta¹*

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- ¹Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, University of Milan, Otolaryngology Unit, Milan, Italy
- ²Paediatric Highly Intensive Care Unit, Department of Patophysiology and Transplantation, Università degli Studi Milano, Italy
*Corresponding author: Sara Torretta, Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, University of Milan, Otolaryngology Unit, Italy

Received: July 11, 2018; Published: July 18, 2018

DOI: 10.26717/BJSTR.2018.07.001440

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Abstract

This paper aims at defining the therapeutic role of (adeno)tonsillectomy in children affected by recurrent acute tonsillitis (RAT), and at drawing some practical implications based on the current evidence. A literature search was performed to find pertinent study accessible by means of a MEDLINE search (accessed via PubMed). 15 papers were selected for literature analysis. The evidence suggests that although significant, the effect of tonsillectomy in children with moderate to severe RAT is modest and limited to 12 months post-operatively. In the case of patients with mild symptoms, it seems that the benefits are not sufficient to balance the disadvantages of the procedure. This can be explained by the fact that the procedure is intrinsically characterised by pharyngeal pain and that the surgical removal of a palatine tonsil does not exclude the subsequent onset of successive episodes of pharyngitis. An analysis of the literature indicates that the efficacy of (adeno)tonsillectomy in treating pediatric RAT is generally limited and relatively transient.

Keywords: Tonsillectomy; Children; Tonsillitis; Pharynx; Tonsils