At what age can children have tonsillectomy?

This article is professionally consulted by Master, Doctor Vu Quoc Anh - Pediatrician - Pediatrics - Neonatology Department - Vinmec Danang International General Hospital. The doctor has nearly 10 years of experience as a resident and treating physician.

Children with recurrent acute tonsillitis or chronic tonsillitis often eat poorly, and their health declines. When the situation requires tonsillectomy, what parents are most concerned about is whether their child is old enough to have surgery or not?

The tonsils, located on either side of the throat, are responsible for protecting the respiratory tract by fighting harmful germs that are still in the throat, preventing it from entering the body.
When the tonsils are inflamed, it means that the tonsils are "fighting" against germs. This makes children show symptoms of high fever, sore throat, difficulty eating.
If not treated in time, the inflammation will cause abscesses, pus around the tonsils, more severe can cause complications of ear infection, rhinosinusitis, laryngitis, bronchitis, heart inflammation, kidney inflammation , glomerulonephritis, arthritis,...
Repeated tonsillitis will turn into chronic tonsillitis, which greatly affects children's eating, living and health.

The tonsils are responsible for participating in the immune system, however, there are still many other organs involved in the body's immune system.
Tonsillectomy is especially necessary when children have acute tonsillitis with symptoms of fever, sore throat, enlarged tonsils and acne spots around the tonsils; Had a tonsil abscess once had to be hospitalized for treatment,...

When the tonsils are acutely inflamed, they will cause fever, swollen tonsils, sore throat, in some locations, especially if the bacteria are group A streptococcus, it can lead to complications of glomerulonephritis, rheumatism, and rheumatic heart disease. When the tonsils are overblown, they will cause snoring, stop breathing at night, and easily cause vomiting in children. Therefore, when the tonsils are inflamed many times a year (more than 5 times/year) or develop too much, causing complications such as glomerulonephritis, rheumatism or abscess around the tonsils, it should be removed.
However, it is better to treat for 15 - 30 days until the inflammation is gone and then cut it.
Complications of tonsillectomy may be early bleeding within 24 hours or late bleeding after 24 hours of surgery. Therefore, when removing tonsils, the patient must be very carefully tested for liver, kidney and blood clotting functions to avoid possible complications.

The most appropriate age for tonsillectomy is from 4 years old and up. The reason is because if the tonsils are removed when the child is too young, it can affect the body's immunity.
However, if the child shows signs of sleep apnea, it must be cut at any age to avoid the risk of sudden death due to lack of oxygen.

In the past, tonsillectomy was a horrifying experience for patients when using old methods that caused pain and bleeding, and a long recovery time.
But now, the new method of cutting tonsils by the Coblator system, using a plasma knife, applied in recent years has shown high efficiency and safety. The plasma knife is created from high frequency electromagnetic waves, called radio waves, the energy from these radio waves will create a conductive cloud around the cutting device, allowing to cut and destroy tissue at high temperatures. degree is only from 60 to 70 degrees Celsius, much lower than electric or laser knives (200 to 400 degrees Celsius).
Vinmec International General Hospital is currently using the latest Coblator system using a multi-function transducer that can both cut high frequency waves (acting as a plasma knife) and water to cool down and cool down. suck up debris. Besides, radio waves also cause blockage of small blood vessels, which has a good hemostatic effect in surgery.
Thanks to limited damage to surrounding tissues, less pain, and completely reduced bleeding complications after surgery, tonsillectomy for young children is no longer a fear of many parents.