Does a tonsillectomy indicated according to the German S2k guideline affect short-term quality of life in adults?

Background Tonsillectomy (TE) for recurrent tonsillitis (RT) is one of the most common surgical interventions. Since 2015, the indication criteria for TE have become much stricter (German S2k guideline). Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) of short-term quality of life (QoL) after TE have not yet been investigated. Purpose To clarify if stringent indication for TE will better identify patients worthy of surgery and patients’ QoL. Methods We prospectively studied the Tonsillectomy Outcome Inventory 14 (TOI-14) responses of 38 RT-patients recruited according to the S2k guideline in 2020 and compared their TOI-14 scores with those of a historical RT cohort from 2006 to 2008 and with a healthy middle-European cohort. New RT patients were assessed before, 2, 4, and 14 days and 6 months after TE. TOI-14 was measured as total and as disease-specific score. Results From pre- to 6-month postoperative, patients’ QoL was significantly different, measured by TOI-14 (49.92 vs. 6.35; p