Tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy

Tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy is the definitive treatment for chronic tonsillitis and adenoid hypertrophy. It is most important to determine if the patient has chronic tonsillitis--a diagnosis that can only be made between acute attacks when the patient is clinically well. Decisions regarding the need for a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy should be made only at this time and never during an episode of acute tonsillitis. Frequency of acute attacks should not by itself be the indication for surgery. The family physician who performs tonsillectomy and adenoidectomies has an opportunity to correlate the preoperative and postoperative clinical course of the patient with the findings at the time of surgery. In my experience, patients carefully selected for tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy on the basis of these criteria do benefit from the surgery, and the clinical improvement is sustained in the long-term follow up of these patients.