Anaerobic Bacteriological Microbiota in Surface and Core of Tonsils in Chronic Tonsillitis

Tonsillar infection may stem from bacteria within tonsillar crypts or parenchyma rather than from those on the surface. Pathogens isolated from surface culture may be colonizing the tonsil, but not essentially infecting it. Anaerobes though not often studied, are known to cause chronic tonsillitis.

To study the correlation of anaerobic bacterial isolates in surface and core cultures from recurrently infected and inflamed tonsils.

A cross-sectional study was conducted in Charitable Hospital and Medical Research Centre, Belagavi from January 2014 to December 2014 on 100 patients of chronic tonsillitis who underwent tonsillectomy. Swabs were obtained from tonsil surface and core and analysed for anaerobes as per standard protocol. Chi-square test and Fischer-Exact test were used for statistical analysis.

Twenty eight out of 63 (44.4%) patients had anaerobic growth on tonsil surface and 30 out of 62 (48.4%) patients had anaerobic growth in tonsil core. Porphyromonas sp. was the most common anaerobe isolated from the surface as well as from the core. There was no statistical significance between anaerobes isolated in the tonsil surface and core.

Anaerobic organisms obtained from tonsil surface and core cultures were similar. A throat swab satisfactorily depicts the core organism and is reliable in recognizing the bacteriology of chronic tonsillitis. Anaerobic organisms known to inhabit the surface as well as the core of tonsils may be treated with suitable antibiotic therapy.