What is tonsillectomy?
Tonsillectomy is one of the most commonly performed pediatric surgeries in the world. In the United States, over 530,000 children under the age of 15 undergo this surgery each year.
The procedure is often performed in conjunction with adenoidectomy – removal of the adenoids (the so-called third tonsil) to improve breathing by clearing the airways.
For a long time, doctors thought that the adenoids and tonsils were unnecessary because they shrink with age and have no effect on the body’s functions. But that turned out to be wrong. Because these tissues are located in the nose and throat, they are the first line of defense against pathogens that enter the body through the air – viruses and bacteria. They activate the immune system to prevent infections from entering the body.
The surgery involves removing the tonsils, two soft tissues at the back of the throat, on both sides. Historically, this was done for chronically inflamed tonsils (tonsillitis), but today the surgery is mainly recommended for sleep disorders related to breathing and for frequent recurrences of tonsillitis that do not respond to other treatments.
Long-term health risks after childhood tonsillectomy
A study of almost 1.2 million children who had their tonsils or adenoids removed shows a higher risk of respiratory, allergic and infectious diseases in adulthood. The study was led by Dr Sean Byers from the University of Melbourne, Professor Jacobus Boomsma from the University of Copenhagen and Professor Stephen Stearns from Yale University.
It involved 1,189,061 children born in Denmark between 1979 and 1999. They were followed in national registries until 2009, covering the first 10–30 years of their lives. Tonsils or adenoids were removed within the first nine years of their lives.
Of these, 17,460 underwent adenoidectomy, 11,830 tonsillectomy, and 31,377 combined surgery (adenotonsillectomy). The control group included 1,157,684 healthy children without surgery.
