Abstract
The paper will explore the purposes, techniques, and controversy among the use of tonsillectomy. Evaluating the four current tonsillectomy techniques Cold Steel, Electrocautery, Intracapsular, and Cool Ablation (Coblation) in the parameters of primary and secondary bleeding, operative time, postoperative morbidity (pain and infection), and risk of recurrence1. No technique showed to be superior, rather each technique showed advantaged and disadvantages. About 530,000 tonsillectomies were done on children under the age of 15 in 2014, a drastic decline to thirty years ago of 1.5 million procedures preformed. The changing standards requirements for the requirement have been a major factor for the decline. Recent research efforts to reduce…show more content… Recurrent infections are classified as seven episodes in one year, five episodes for two years, or three episodes for three years. Many episodes are classified as tonsillitis. Tonsillitis is inflammation of the pharyngeal tonsils. The inflammation usually extends to the adenoid and the lingual tonsils. Herpes simplex virus, measles, and other herpes virus constitutes seventy percent of acute tonsillitis, while the remaining is bacterial infection from streptococcus pyogenes5. Symptoms are Red swollen tonsils, White or yellow coating or patches on the tonsils, sore throat, difficult or painful swallowing, fever, enlarged lymph nodes in the neck, A scratchy, muffled or throaty voice, Bad breath, Stiff neck, Headache and referred pain of the ear due to glossopharyngeal nerves. In extreme cases tonsillitis can cause children of five and below in age to experience febrile seizure from fever. Immediate tonsillectomies are preformed as the tonsils are presumed to be septic. As tonsillitis is being treated with antibiotics, peritonsillar absess can form by anaerobic bacteria invading from local glands and puss begins to collect in…show more content… Coblation is a kind of radiofrequency surgery. The technique involves passing radiofrequency energy through a conductive medium like sodium chloride and producing a plasma field. By coblation, the medium is dissociated into free sodium ions, which are responsible for the destruction of intercellular bonds, resulting in tissue dissociation. This reaction is achieved at temperatures between 60-70 degrees. Saline with conjunction with the medium helps to limit the amount of heat delivered to the surrounding structures. The low temperature is proposed to lessen postoperative pain and allows accelerated healing of the tonsillar fossae compared with other methods involving heat driven processes. However, the effect of coblation during tonsillectomy has not been fully understood, and the results in postoperative pain and hemorrhage haven’t been adequately
