Effect of tonsillectomy on humeral and cellular immunity: a systematic review of published studies from 2009 to 2019

Although tonsillectomy is the most commonly performed surgical operation for children, its postoperative effect on the immune response was a source of debate among physicians.

The aim of this systemic review was study the effect of tonsillectomy on children immune response.

PubMed, Medline, Embase and Cochrane Library.

All relevant articles published English language addressing the effect of tonsillectomy on the immune system were included. One investigators extracted data regarding: year of the study, sample size, study design, sample size, timing of analysis, studied immune factors, result and conclusion were identified. Another investigator independently reviewed data accuracy.

Ten articles published between from January 2009 to January 2019 in about this issue that included 404 children were reviewed. All reviewed studies showed a non-significant difference between levels of indicators of the humeral immunity (IgA, IgG, IgM, C3 and C4) pre- and postoperatively. Studies that measured these indicators only after surgery, showed a non-significant difference in their levels between patients and healthy controls. Levels of indicators of cellular immunity (CD4+ , CD3+ , CD8+ , CD19+ , CD25+ , CD16+ , CD+ 56) showed slight reduction or increase in some studies but without a significant difference compared to their levels preoperatively, postoperatively at different intervals or with healthy controls. Other studies found no changes in these indicators postoperatively.

There was enough evidence to conclude that tonsillectomy has no negative affect on both humeral and cellular immunity of children.