recurrent tonsilitis: tonsilectomy or not?

[Choco]

My 6 years old son has recurrent tonsilitis for the past 2 yrs. 10 episodes the first year and 6 the second year. ENT suggests a tonsillectomy but Paediatrician says to wait another year to see if it gets better. I've heard so much downsides of tonsillectomy, ex., since the tonsils act as soldiers fighting at frontline, having them removed means that the enemies will just go elsewhere such as the lung and the chest. or other stories such as having tonsils removed doesn't mean that you wont get tonsilitis because the tissues behind the tonsils can still get infected. I'm so confused!! what should I do? I don't want my son to go through a painful surgery but the outcome won't be beneficial at all!!! HELP!!!

I don't know if it is the same in children but since I had my tonsils out I have not had as many colds and things as I used to (I was 22 at the time)
My GP that refered me said the same thing.
I occcasionally have a sore throat that feels like tonsilitus but never as bad as when I had tonsils

Thanks for your reply!! since you've been through it yourself, your advice is valualbe! how often were your episodes and how many years did you have it until you decided to take your tonsils out? and was it really painful afterward? how long was the recovery?

Choco - two of my three had tonsils/adenoids removed and grommits put in.

For them it was the best decision and neither have suffered from bad chests as a result. We went the 'wait and see' route with dd as she has other issues. She did grow out of that stage where they seem to have it continually although she does still have the odd bout (she's 12 now).

Not much help to you really

I didn't start getting tonsilitus til I was about 17 I had it so severe my Mum & Dad & Doctor ran through the symtpoms of Meningitus. I would have it about once a month when I got to my 20's and my employer was not happy! I kept on at the doctors but they just kept saying that they didn't like taking them out of adults until I saw a locum gp who had work in an ent dept and said that my tonsils were large & scarred and refered me to have them out. I had to wait about 18 months in total (I had 3 ops cancelled) it was painful and I had 2 weeks off work but I still felt groggy from the anesthetic for about 5 of those!

I was just reading an article about this. The guidelines for surgery in the US are:

1. Five or more episodes of tonsillitis per year in a 1-2 year period
2. Three or more episodes per year over a 3-year period
3. Obstructive sleep apnea (gasping or stopping of breathing during sleep)
4. Suspicion of tonsil tumor
5. Recurrent ear infections (adenoid tonsils)
6. Severe tonsillitis failing antibiotic therapy or causing excessive time off of school or work
7. Halitosis (chronic bad breath not responsive to other therapy)
8. Tonsillar abscess

Your ds would certainly fit the above criteria. But I know it's a hard decision since they have to go under general anesthesia.

HTH

saggarsmakerbottomknocker:, 2 of your 3 children had tonsils removed?! wow! was it painful for them? did they have recurrent tonsilitis too? how often were the episodes? i heard most children with outgrow as they get older, what made you decide to have them removed?

chjilly: yeah, i've heard removal of the tonsils is more painful for adults than chidlren. how often do you get sore throat now?

My eldest (now 11) had his tonsils removed when he was 3. There was a vast improvement following the operation.

Choco I Don't get a sore throat very often now maybe once or twice a year if that.

jabberwocky - dh has large tonsils & Sleep apnoea but they won't take his tonisils out as the risk a problem during surgery is too high.

jabberwocky - thanks for the guidelines, yeah i know my son fits the criteria but i'm still hoping that he'll outgrow it and wont' need surgery, since he did show improvement the second year.

mrsbang- does your son still get tonsilitis? or sore throat?

Choco - ds1 suffered glue ear, dreadful ear infections and high temps, regularly bursting his eardrums, he barely ate, had his op at around 3 1/2. Up until we were seen by the ENT no-one had ever checked his tonsils but the consultant took one look (infact he could tell by the smell - you may notice that children with tonsilitis sometimes have a quite specific smell)- and he wanted them out. He felt that the grommits alone wouldn't have worked without the enlarged tonsils being removed.

Ds2 whilst not suffering to the same extent with painful ear infections, had significant hearing loss, lack of speech and sleep apnea. His behaviour was very bad and we were going down the route of having him assessed for ASD. His op at around 3 completely turned him around.

Dd has medical issues that put her at greater risk under GA so we waited with her. TBH she wasn't as bad as the boys and at the time it was the least of her (and my) worries. She did have some time off during her first year at school but has generally outgrown it.

We have family history of tonsil problems. Dh had his out at a very young age ( under 2 I think and in the 60's - he had quinsey (sp)). I was supposed to have mine out in my teens but bottled out and I have pretty much outgrown it too, maybe have a bad bout every couple of years.

HTH

Its not quite the same but the hospital have put my Ds 4yo on the waiting list to have his tonsils and adenoids removed.He was reffered by gp because of his snoring, it is terrible he snores like a 90 yo man.The gp said the hospital probably wouldnt do anything but when we got there they said his tonsils and adenoids were larger than normal and then they mentioned sleep apnea i didnt think anything about this but the gp had put it in his notes,when i questioned the doc about it he said that my son snores constantly and then stops for a few seconds then starts again which gp thought was sleep apnea he does do this but had never thought about him stopping breathing,it made me really paranoid for a few weeks checking him all night.He is on the waiting list but we dont really have to make a decision about the op till the pre op appointment.I am terrified of the thought of him having to go through surgery but it may be benneficial to him to actually start getting some proper sleep as he is very very restless. I just dont know what to do.

I had mine removed aged 11 after a few years of recurring tonsillitis. It was getting more frequent and painful each time.

Have had about 5 sore throats since (am 30 now).

Never heard of growing out of it. Is that likely?

Haven't had bother with infection elsewhere either.

Saggarmakersbottomknocker-i'm sorry to hear about the complications that your kids have. i'm already exhasted with one(well my daughter, thanks to God, is quite healthy) every time my son get tonsilitis i'm just so worry..because with the high fever it's pretty scary at imes it can reach up to 40 and there once or twice it even go up to almost 41!! his body seems to be on heat but at the same time he get chill!

Ds1 was like that Choco - his temp would soar and he'd be shaking. Often he'd vomit too so keeping down Calpol was a problem.

TBH they are now two of the most healthy children - well they're teens now -they have barely been to the doctors since they had surgery.

Gillian76- thanks for your info. yeah my ENT told me that 80% outgrow it so i'm just hoping....and since my son is on waiting list so i dont' have to decide now, so i'm just trying to gater as much info. as possible.

Saggarmakersbottomknocker- yeah! good for you! :)

I had my tonsils & adenoids out as a child (I can't remember exactly what age but maybe around 10 or so?) after several years of recurrent strep throat & tonsillitis. After having them removed I never got another throat infection again. Nor did I suddenly start getting chest infections or anything else. I get the occasssional cold/sore throat just like everyone else but that's it. In fact usually my colds these days consist of either a cough or a stuffy head but not a sore throat.

The only downside for me was a bad reaction to the anaesthesia - I was pretty ill for a few days after, couldn't even look at the bowls of ice cream my parents were offering. And throwing up with a really raw sore throat wasn't pleasant.

Thank you all for the information provided, at least I feel much better now, knowing that having a tonsilectomy may not have that much downsides. hearing you guys said that after the surgery things turned out ok maybe I should seriously consider having my son's tonsils removed.
sugarmag- how often were your episodes and how many years did you have them and how long ago did you have the surgery, b/c nowadays, the side effect of anaesthesia shouldn't be that bad right? my son was circumcised 2 yrs ago and he didn't throw up at all and was able to eat that night.

Choco - I'm afraid i don't remember all the details - it was nearly 25 years ago I had it done! I probably had at least 2-3 episodes a year for 2-3 years before my parents decided to go ahead with the operation.

As for my reaction to the anaesthesia - i think I'm sensitive to that sort of thing - I also throw up in response to codeine and diamorphine. If your son's had a general anaesthetic before and been ok with it I'm sure he'll be fine.

Obviously there is always a small risk with any surgery and I can't help you weigh that risk for your own son, but I do know it helped me.

This was also in the US by the way, don't know if that makes any difference.

I had a tonsilectomy 4 yrs ago following 6 years of getting tonsillitis monthly. My tonsils were also very 'weepy' even when not infcted. For me it was bloody painful, the only thing I've had more painful is appendicitis and pneumonia, but I was bfing ds1, so was unable to take many painkillers, and only weak ones at that.

I still suffer with reccurrent sore throats, which are just as painful as tonsilitis, adn about as regular, but only lasting a day or 2. But it is better than the constant tonsilitis although not pleasant, adn it is supposed to be far worse for adults than children.

sorry Choco, didn't get chance to respond to this earlier.

Before his op he was getting infections every 3/4 weeks and the time between each infection was getting smaller.

There was an immediate improvement, and he suffers from the occasional infection these days.

mrsbang- how "occasionally" does your son gets infection now?

when you guys say you still get infections, since the tonsils aren't there anymore, so do you guys mean a throat infection, or is it tonsilitis? (like i said before, the tissue at the back of the tonsils may still get infected), what was the the doctor's diagnosis?

see guys, that's what i'm afraid of!! i dont' want my son to go through the pain and after he still gets "tonsilitis"!!!

like GarfieldsGirl said - you said you still suffer from throat infections as regular as before but only lasts 1/2 days, do you need antibiotics for these episodes? and btw how long was your recovery from op.? i supposed it's worse for adults than kids.

"occasionally" in DS's case - once or twice a year these days. He had two over last winter, and that was more than the winter before.

By infection I mean anything in that region, not tonsillitis.

thanks mrs bang - so big improvement after the op then...so how was the operaton? did it really really hurt? how long was the recovery? esp. the "really hurts" stage..do you still remember how many days approx.? i'm sorry for all these questions...just trying to gather as much info. as possible! because the only feedback i've had is from adults who've had the operations, and they said it was terrible painful!