Impact of tonsillectomy on quality of life in adults with chronic tonsillitis

Tonsillectomy is one of the most frequently performed surgical procedures. Nevertheless there is less known about the impact of this procedure on Health-Related Quality of life (HRQOL). The two different most common used surgical techniques are "cold" (CT) and "hot" (HT) tonsillectomy. The aim of this study was to measure patients' HRQOL-benefit after adult tonsillectomy with the indication of chronic tonsillitis and to compare HT and CT. The Glasgow Benefit Inventory (GBI) was used to quantify the health benefit of CT and HT retrospectively in 600 patients aged 16 years and older. 227 of the patients returned the completed surveys. Mean total GBI score was 15.8 (18 SD, 13.2-18.4 CI) for CT and 11.6 (15 SD, 7-16.3 CI) for HT (p = 0.214). Patients reported an improvement in HRQOL in all GBI subscales. We could not find a significant difference in reported HRQOL benefit between HT and CT. Adult tonsillectomy, HT as well as CT, for the indication of chronic tonsillitis provides an improvement in HRQOL. This positive impact of tonsillectomy in patients with chronic tonsillitis should be considered in the clinical decision-making process for tonsillectomy.