Trends in tonsillectomy surgery in children in Scotland 2000-2018

Tonsillectomy is one of the most common surgical procedures in children but indications and surgical practice change over time.

We aimed to identify trends in tonsillectomy procedures in children, in particular the number of procedures performed, the age of child undergoing tonsillectomy and the type of hospital in which the surgery was performed.

Review of Scottish Morbidity Records data (SMR01) which are routinely collected after everyday case procedure or overnight stay in all Scottish NHS hospitals.

All NHS hospitals in all 14 Scottish health boards.

All children (0-16 years) undergoing tonsillectomy, 2000-2018.

Number of tonsillectomy procedures; rate of tonsillectomy per 1000 children in the population; number of children aged 0-2 years and 3-4 years undergoing tonsillectomy; health board in which the surgery occurred; diagnostic coding for these episodes; length of stay and readmission within 30 days of surgery.

During 2000-2018, there were 50,208 tonsillectomies performed in children in Scotland (mean 2642/year). The number of tonsillectomies per year remained constant (R = 0.322, P = .178) but tonsillectomies performed in children 0-2 years rose from 0.41 to 1.56 per 1000 (R = 0.912, P < .001), and 3-4 years from 3.06 to 6.93 per 1000 (R = 0.864, P < .001). The proportion of all children's tonsillectomies performed up to age 4 rose from 20.6% to 35.9% and up to age 2 from 2.4% to 8.1%. All specialist children's hospitals showed a significant increase in surgery in very young children.

Tonsillectomy rates remained static between 2000 and 2018, despite a falling population. More tonsillectomies are now performed for obstructive sleep apnoea, at a young age and in regional children's hospitals. This has important implications for the workload of these specialist hospitals.