Any experience of a tonsilotomy via coblation?

[eldorado02]

My 5yr old is having her tonsils out via coblation this week. I’ve asked the surgeon lots of questions about recovery, but has anyone else been through this procedure with their child and wouldn’t mind sharing their experience? I want to know as much as possible about what to expect. I had my own tonsils out via the old fashioned method 3+ decades ago, but I know it’s not easily comparable! I’m looking forward to no more recurrent tonsillitis 🤪

19 year old DD had her tonsils out last Friday with this method - now on day 10 post op and back to normal minus a slight sore throat still. Honestly recovery wasn’t too bad, and it will be a lot easier for yours as he/she is younger

Pain peaked around day 5 but still manageable with regular painkillers, ice packs, cold drinks and ice lollies. They encourage eating as normally as possible these days as it helps healing so just give him whatever he feels like. Avoid ice cream/dairy though as it produces excess mucous

Only thing I wasn’t prepared for is how swollen things get for the first day or 2! Her uvula was absolutely massive - she felt she was at times choking on it and it made speaking + swallowing very hard. Its absolutely normal and went away quickly, just gave us both a bit of a shock on the first evening post op when we looked in her throat!

Good luck, he’ll be absolutely fine x

Thank you so much! I really appreciate you sharing your experience with me. I’m nervous but confident.

My 3 year old had tonsils, adenoids & grommets fitted last September. The surgeon said the coblation was the norm now and if his children needed their tonsils out that’s what he’d recommend for them.

recovery wise, took about 10 days. They send you home with morphine, but don’t be tempted to use it until day 3 as this is when the pain peaks and you can only use morphine for 3 days in a row.

I would say the recovery was far easier than some illnesses she’s had (oral herpes last year whilst on holiday in Wales was truly horrific)

It was absolutely the best decision to operate, it’s changed her life. She hardly ever had tonsillitis but they were so big she had dreadful sleep apnea.

good luck for your little ones op

@areweonabreak Thank you so much. Yes, we jokingly call her tonsils meatballs, as they are giant, and her snoring seems to have tipped into apnea in recent months, so we’re very keen on the op. Just dreading her being anaesthetised (😭) then the recovery after the surgery. She’s a resilient thing, but it’s still a bit of an unknown in terms of how recovery will fare.