Medical Questions » Mouth and Throat Questions » Question No. 689
| Question: | My GP has referred me to a specialist to have my son' s tonsils removed, but I am not sure that I want him to have this operation. When should tonsils be removed? |
| Answer: | The tonsils are glands, similar to those in your neck, armpit or groin, which lie in the throat on either side of the back of the tongue. They are made of lymphoid tissue which is responsible for producing antibodies to fight off infection. The tonsils ate only one percent of the total body lymphoid tissue, so are not essential from this point of view. Tonsillectomy was a much more common operation in the pre-antibiotic era before World War 2, as tonsillitis without antibiotics was a severe disabling disease that could be life-threatening. Today the operation is still necessary under certain circumstances. These include:
• Five attacks of tonsillitis in 12 months in a child, or three a year in an adult.
• An attack of quinsy (the formation of an abscess under the tonsil).
• Obsttuction of the airway or food passage by grossly enlarged tonsils.
• Tonsillitis complicated by middle ear infections on two occasions.
• Othet rarer complications of tonsillitis.
Age is no barrier to the operation, provided the reasons are present, but it is unusual under 12 months of age and in the elderly.
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