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Does tonsillectomy lead to improved outcomes over and above the effect of time? A longitudinal study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2008

R Fox ,
M Temple ,
D Owens ,
A Short  and
A Tomkinson
R Fox*
Affiliation:
Screening Services, Velindre NHS Trust, Cardiff
M Temple
Affiliation:
the infection and Communicable Disease Service (ICDS) of the National Public Health Service for Wales, Cardiff
D Owens
Affiliation:
Otolaryngology Department, Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport
A Short
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Audit, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, Wales, UK
A Tomkinson
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, Wales, UK
*
Address for correspondence: Dr R Fox, 18 Cathedral Rd, Cardiff CF11 9LJ, Wales, UK. Fax: 02920 787 800 E-mail: rosemary.fox@velindre-tr.wales.nhs.uk
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Abstract

Objective:

To determine the effect of tonsillectomy on morbidity in patients listed for tonsillectomy.

Design:

Questionnaire survey of 257 children and 159 adults who had been listed for tonsillectomy. The cohort studied had experienced delays of greater than 12 months between being listed for tonsillectomy and undergoing surgery. They had responded to an earlier questionnaire in 2003 regarding morbidity experienced while waiting for surgery. The same questionnaire was presented to them again in 2005. Morbidity experienced in 2003 was compared to that experienced in 2005 in subjects who had and had not proceeded to surgery in the interval.

Results:

Forty-seven per cent of the cohort had undergone tonsillectomy. The questionnaire response rate was 48 per cent. Respondents reported less morbidity in 2005 than in 2003, whether or not they had had surgery. Respondents who had undergone tonsillectomy reported significantly greater reductions in morbidity than those who had not. Five per cent of children who had undergone tonsillectomy experienced at least three short episodes of tonsillitis in the six months before the questionnaire, compared with 35 per cent of those who had not undergone tonsillectomy (p < 0.001).

Conclusions:

The morbidity reported by patients suffering from chronic, untreated tonsillitis decreases with time. Tonsillectomy produces significantly greater reductions in morbidity than time alone.

Keywords

TonsillitisTonsillectomyQuestionnaire
Type
Main Articles
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 122 , Issue 11 , November 2008 , pp. 1197 - 1200
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 2008

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