Tonsillectomy

Tonsillectomy is a surgical procedure in which both palatine tonsils are removed from the back of the throat, performed mainly for recurrent tonsillitis, recurrent throat infections and obstructive sleep apnea. In patients with frequent throat infections, the surgery measurably reduces the number of sore throats in the following year, though evidence of long-term benefit is lacking, while in children with obstructive sleep apnea it improves quality of life. The procedure has been described since at least the first century AD by the Roman medical writer Celsus, and while performed less often in the United States today than in the 1970s, it remains the second most common outpatient surgical procedure in American children; typical complications include bleeding and throat pain lasting one to two weeks.