[Histological examination following adenoidectomy and tonsillectomy in children. Surprising results are very rare]

The histological examination of lymphatic tissue resected in children during adenoidectomy or tonsillectomy has to be considered as a screening method. Its purpose is to detect rare diseases that differ from "chronic inflammation" or "lymphatic hyperplasia". That this examination is economically reasonable in relation to the frequency of surprising results with therapeutic consequences is doubtful. The aim of this study was to define the frequency of surprising or clinically relevant results in histological reports following adenoidectomy and/or tonsillectomy in children.

From both 1999 and 2004, 200 patients were identified, 10 years old or less, who underwent adenoidectomy/tonsillectomy due to recurrent throat infections or stenotic symptoms of the upper airways or upper swallowing path. The histological reports on these 400 children were evaluated.

At the date of surgery, the median age was 4 years. In 140 children, an adenoidectomy-tonsillectomy was performed, 26 underwent tonsillectomy alone and 234 adenoidectomy alone. No reports with a histological diagnosis other than "lymphatic hyperplasia" or "chronic tonsillitis" were found.

A histological report that is surprising or might influence the further treatment of the patient is rare. From the literature, an unusual diagnosis in children occurs in less than 1 per 1,000. The routine histological examination of adenoidectomy/tonsillectomy tissue cannot nowadays be economically justified. On the other hand, the ethical aspects of the abolition of this inefficient but established method should be discussed. If routine histological examination is abandoned, the surgeon would be responsible for the decision of whether a histological examination is necessary for each individual case (asymmetry of tonsils, extraordinary cervical lymph node status, striking history e.g.).