Objectives: This study sought to determine whether unilateral tonsillectomy was effective in the treatment of chronic adenotonsillar hypertrophy.
Patients and methods: A total of 197 patients (96 girls, 101 boys) with chronic adenotonsillar hypertrophy were prospectively included. The patients were randomly assigned to either bilateral tonsillectomy (n=113; mean age 10.1 years; range 4 to 18 years) or unilateral tonsillectomy (n=84; mean age 4.5 years; range 3 to 8 years) performed with or without adenoidectomy. All the patients were followed-up for at least a year.
Results: The two groups did not differ significantly with respect to preoperative symptoms, the size of tonsils, and the presence of adenoid hypertrophy. At the end of the follow-up, no significant differences were found with respect to relief of snoring, mouth breathing, and upper airways obstruction between the two groups. A greater number of patients achieved complete improvement in snoring in the bilateral tonsillectomy group (p<0.05). With unilateral tonsillectomies, three patients required tonsillectomy to the other side, two had recurrent tonsillitis, and one had severe compensatory hypertrophy with persistent difficulty in inspiration and mouth breathing.
Conclusion: Unilateral tonsillectomy seems to be as effective as bilateral tonsillectomy in the treatment of chronic adenotonsillar hypertrophy.