Tonsils???

[mark page]

I'm no medical expert by no means, but aren't tonsilectomys or whatever they call removing tonsils pretty much a thing of the past? I had mine removed at maybe six or seven years old, and I think all my brothers had theirs removed too. This was in the 60's. I haven't heard of anyone having theirs removed since not too long after that time period. Well why I am asking is that I received a phone call today that one of my cousins stepdaughter had her's removed and this morning/late evening last night passed away from bleeding to death from it. She was 20 years old. There may be more complications cause I don't know everything yet but will hear more later today. I don't even know what tonsils do except give you a sore throat and swell up.

[Anthony Anderson]

My Anatomy and Physiology professor said not to believe anyone that said a tonsilectomy was a routine procedure and there aren't any risks. Posterior to the tonsils are blood vessels that are superficial and can easily be "nicked" by a scapel, resulting in what you describe happened to your relative. I am sorry to hear of your loss. Bill

[Joe Chritz]

The tonsils (there are more than two) are part of the immune system in a most basic sense. Its been a long time since anatomy class back when I was a medic but if I recall correctly their exact function isn't fully known.

No surgery is routine.

Sorry to hear about your loss.

Joe

[Bob Rufener]

What a tough situation. Sorry to hear about this. I had my tonsils removed when I was about 11 years old. Up until that time, I had frequent sore throats (tonsilitis) and strep. Lots of sickness. After I had them removed, hardly a sore throat ever. None of our 3 kids had theirs removed and it seems to be a very uncommon operation. A bit of information is available here; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonsil

[John Daugherty]

The wife and I just took our 7 y.o. son to the ENT yesterday to see if he needs his out. He's had strep 4 times since December. He is on his second round of antibiotics straight. He'll be finished in about a week. I have to take him back in two weeks. If he tests positive then the Dr. said his will have to come out. If they need to come out I'll be asking A LOT of questions.

I'm so sorry for your lose.

[Phil Thien]

I'm am so sorry for you loss.

My 17-year old daughter had hers removed about 12-13 years ago. They were swollen to the nth degree, interfered with eating, and often became quite sore. In fact, she had become so accustomed to the pain that she didn't complain and more, but once they were removed her disposition changed into quite the cheery little girl.

Again, I am very sorry for your loss.

[Joe Pelonio]

I still have mine, and still have my wisdom teeth too, at 55. No more appendix though. None of my 3 children (28, 23, 20) had their tonsils out either.

[Gary Garmar]

Very, very common procedure. I am a Anesthesia provider and at our facility we perform, on average, 10+ tonsillectomies a week. Although a common procedure complications do occur, bleeding post op is one of the more common; but death is extremely rare.
So sorry for your loss.

[Randal Stevenson]

Very, very common procedure. I am a Anesthesia provider and at our facility we perform, on average, 10+ tonsillectomies a week. Although a common procedure complications do occur, bleeding post op is one of the more common; but death is extremely rare.
So sorry for your loss.

First, sorry for your loss!

Secondly, maybe Gary can answer this. My understanding is now it isn't as common as before, unless the person is sick on a regular basis, due in part to more knowledge (treatment and otherwise).
Also my understanding has always been it was a higher risk surgery the older you got.
What can you tell us about those? (right, wrong, other)

[Matthew Poeller]

Sorry for your loss.

I had mine out 4 years ago when i was 25 to cure my sleep apnea. My tonsils where huge and it did cure the sleep apnea.

I also have factor eight deficiency which slows my clotting time. This means that I am high risk for what happened to your relative. They had to have a special shot in the OR in case there was a problem. The shot was 25 thousand dollars. Luckily I did not need it.

[Gary Garmar]

Like I said in my earlier post, it's a fairly common procedure. What with the "over use" of prescription antibiotics it seems tonsillitis will be with us forever. By the way, I still have my tonsils. Most ALL of these procedures are done on an OUTPATIENT basis, not requiring overnight or Hospital stays. The most common time of a bleeding problem is usually 7-10 days following the procedure. As far as the issue of "being harder on an adult" I have no statistical information to support that; its just that older people tend to be more grumpy, maybe because they don't get the "special" lollipops. These are just my opinions and observations, not gospel. ALWAYS consult your family physician about ANY infection.

[Jim O'Dell]

Mark, sorry to hear about your family's tragedy. I'll keep you all in my prayers. Jim.

[Russ Filtz]

Getting them out as adults is much more risky. I've never had mine out, but wish I had. My son got his done last year. He had an abscess on them that was so painful he was walking around with his head cocked to one side. I thought he had hurt his neck at school. happened that fast. Fine one day, next his head was cocked over! Then the stupid doctors office wouldn't see him right away since it was close to closing. Next morning when the doctor saw him, he chewed butt at the front desk for turning me away.

[Dennis Peacock]

Mark,

I'm very sorry to hear of your family loss. I hope you find the answers you need. I'll keep your family in my thoughts and prayers.

[mark page]

As an update, the tonsil operation was several days before her death, and evidently had a small continued bleeding up until the time of her death. This was a lesson for me and my family to never take what would be a routine procedure lightly and to follow-up on any type of poor feeling afterwards, no matter how slight. I can see how this could have happened since there is no outwardly visible signs of the continued bleeding, but something that definately could have been prevented if known.