MYTH: Tonsillectomies lead to more infections

 

MYTH: If you have your tonsils removed, then you’ll get more infections.

TRUTH: There is very little research that agrees with this.  There is one study out of Denmark in 2018 that argued that there could be long term increase in adult diseases after tonsillectomy but it is very difficult to control for how these patients would have done without the surgery.  In all surgeries there are risks and benefits. The benefits have to outweigh the risks.  When tonsillectomy is performed for chronic infections of the tonsils, it has been my experience that the number of infections significantly drops.  The vast majority of research studies concur with this. 

 
 

 

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