Why T & a Remains Moot

Tonsillectomy is the most frequently performed operation in the United States; about 1,000,000 children are subjected to this procedure annually.1 There exists a general feeling among critical observers that the majority of these operations may be unnecessary or actually harmful, but even thoughtful and conscientious pediatricians maintain divergent attitudes and practices on the matter. Thus, some of them, cognizant of potential anesthetic, immunologic, and psychologic risks, and of widely publicized condemnations of the procedure, almost routinely refuse to consider tonsillectomy for any of their patients; others, having cared for children who appear to have been helped—sometimes dramatically—by tonsillectomy or adenoidectomy or both, continue to recommend surgery for selected patients.