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Tonsillectomy Complications

The tonsils are spongy pieces of tissue located on either side of the throat. When working optimally, the tonsils are designed to catch bacteria or viruses before they can enter the body. However, sometimes the tonsils become infected with the bacteria or viruses they trapped, which causes a condition known as tonsillitis. Chronic tonsillitis, strep throat, frequently swollen tonsils or difficulty sleeping may necessitate removal of the tonsils, which is known as a tonsillectomy.

  1. How It Works

    • Tonsillectomy is performed mostly in children, according to kidshealth.org. The surgery requires general anesthesia, meaning the patient will be put to sleep, typically for 20 minutes, according to kidshealth.org. The surgeon uses a series of incisions to remove the tonsils and then packs the surgical site with packing tissue to slow bleeding.

    Bleeding

    • Tonsillectomy most often uses a method known as electrocautery to keep the surgical site from bleeding. Electrocautery uses heat to seal off the blood vessels and prevent further bleeding. According to entusa.com, further bleeding occurs in an estimated 1 to 4 percent of patients who undergo a tonsillectomy. In severe cases, a high level of blood loss may necessitate a blood transfusion.

    Changes in Speech

    • When the tonsils are removed, this can create added air pockets in the nasal cavity, which can cause air to flow through the nose when the patient is speaking, created an adjusted, or hypernasal, tone to speech. According to entusa.com, this complication occurs in every 1 out of 3,000 patients.

    Nasopharyngeal Stenosis

    • This condition occurs when the tissue at the surgical site experiences extreme scarring and narrows the throat opening. This can cause difficulty breathing and may require further surgical repair to widen the airway.

    Instrumentation Injuries

    • A tonsillectomy requires insertion of surgical instruments into the mouth and the use of a mouth-gag retractor to keep the mouth open during surgery. In some instances, the mouth-gag retractor can fall out of place, which can result in a chipped tooth. Another possible risk is of burning due to exposure to the electrocautery device.

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