Tonsils removal

The surgery is done while the child is under general anesthesia. Your child will be asleep and pain free.

• The surgeon will place a small tool into your child’s mouth to hold it open.
• The surgeon then cuts or burns away the tonsils. The doctor will control bleeding. The wounds heal naturally without stitches.

After surgery, your child will stay in the recovery room until he or she is awake and can breathe easily, cough, and swallow. Most children go home several hours after this surgery.

The tonsils help protect against infections. But children with large tonsils may have many sore throats and ear infections.

You and your child’s doctor may consider a tonsillectomy if:

• Your child has infections often (seven or more times in 1 year, or five or more times over 2 years).
• Your child misses a lot of school.
• Your child has trouble breathing.
• Your child has abscess or growth on their tonsils.

The risks for any anesthesia are:

• Reactions to medications
• Breathing problems

The risks for any surgery are:

• Bleeding
• Infection

Rarely, bleeding after surgery can go unnoticed and cause very bad problems. Swallowing a lot may be a sign of bleeding from the tonsils.

Another risk includes injury to the uvula (soft palate).

After surgery, the number of throat infections is usually lower, but your child will still get some.

Wetmore RF. Tonsils and adenoids. In: Kliegman RM, Behrman RE, Jenson HB, Stanton BF, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 19th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2011:chap 375.