Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy

What is a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy?

A patient may be referred to an ear, nose, and throat surgeon (ENT) to have the tonsils and adenoids removed. This surgery is called a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. Often the tonsils and adenoids are removed at the same time. But sometimes only one or the other is removed.

A tonsillectomy may be recommended if a patient has throat infections that keep coming back. A throat infection involves a sore throat with fever. Or he or she also has swollen neck glands or drainage from the tonsils. Or the patient also has a positive strep test.

The patient has any of the following:

• Seven or more throat infections in one year
• Five or more throat infections in each of two years
• Three or more throat infections in each of three years

A tonsillectomy may also be recommended if the patient has recurrent throat infections and any of these:

• Is unable to take antibiotic medicine or has antibiotic medicine allergies
• Has episodes of fever, sores in the mouth, sore throat, and swollen neck glands
• Has had an infected area near the tonsils

A tonsillectomy may also be recommended if your child has:

• Abnormal breathing while sleeping with enlarged tonsils. This might be brief episodes where the patient stops breathing.
• Very large tonsils that block breathing through the nose or cause difficulty swallowing.