Early adenotonsillectomy for relief of acute upper airway obstruction due to acute tonsillitis in children.

Early adenotonsillectomy (TA) for acute upper airway obstruction precipitated by acute tonsillitis was performed in 17 children admitted to the Royal Childrens Hospital over a 15 year period. The age ranged from 13 to 83 months (mean 37 months) and surgery was performed from 1 to 11 days (mean 5.8 days) following admission. One child who underwent surgery within 24 h of admission had an intraoperative blood loss of 250 ml requiring transfusion, but there were no cases of post operative hemorrhage. Airway obstruction was relieved by surgery in all cases and patients were discharged 1 to 6 days (mean 2.4 days) later. Early TA should be considered for relief of upper airway obstruction due to acute tonsillitis after an initial 24 h of intravenous antibiotic therapy.