My son is almost 23 months old and due to sleep apnea and 2 recent bouts of strep, we are going to have his tonsils and adenoids removed. The doctor explained that we have the option to remove the tonsils fully or partially, and I can't decide which is better for my son. Although the doctor is slightly recommending partial, he is willing to do either. My fear is that we do a partial and 5 years from now there is enough regrowth that we have to do another surgery to remove them fully. Does anyone have experience with partial tonsil removal that they can share?
Thanks for the advice. Brenda, he goes to Dr. Soumekh and I was told the same thing, that 95% of the surgeries they do these days are partial. I have a few weeks to make the final decision and at this point, I'm not sure what I'm going to do.
We did full tonsil and adenoid. It was a great decision!!! Best of luck,
.
Hi E..
My neighbor is one of if not the top ENT peds surgeon in town. Wonder if he's your doc?? Anyway-- my daughter had issues too- although we didn't remove them.
He says they rarely- and I mean rarely- remove tonsils now. They shave them- for a partial as there are too many benefits to leaving some of them and the kids tend to grow into them.
The only time they consider it is for major sleep apnea to prevent right heart enlargement.
Your call yet it might be a good idea to ease your mind and get a second opinion??
Hang in there- either way likely ok for your son.
about me- 51 yo perfusionist, wellness coach, mom with 10 yo fraternal twin girls.
B. j
My son just turned 4 when his tonsils and adenoids were removed.
His were not infected.
He never had a fever.
But his tonsils ballooned to the point where they almost touched each other across the back of his throat.
We tried steroids to shrink them but they swelled right back up again as soon as we were off them.
They became an obstruction and were interfering with his breathing, eating and sleeping.
Having them all out was the best thing we ever did.
He healed up quickly.
I had my tonsils fully removed when I was little and they still grew back, but this time I didn't have any problems with them.
I have never heard of partial... but I looked it up. It sounds like a good alternative, but there is no guarantee that a regrowth won't happen and that you won't have to do it again:
http://occupational-therapy.advanceweb.com/Article/Partia...
I did not have a tonsilectomy, but I did have my adenoids fully removed when I was about 8.
