my son is 3 years old and we were just told by our ENT that he needs a tonisillectomy. when i was young i had my tonsils removed and they took the whole thing. now they have a new procedure that is considered a 'partial tonsillectomy' which boasts a shorter recovery time and less bleeding. sounds great but there is a greater possibility with the partial of the tonsils growing back, regenerating. the procedure is fairly new so they don't have any real good numbers but they say maybe 1-2 percent have that happen. my husband thinks we should do the partial and i think we should do the whole thing because i don't want to deal with the surgery twice (possibly). is anyone familiar with or had experience with the partial? please let me know how it went...
looking for advice,
S.
partial tonsillectomy makes no sense to me. you'll be back in no time for another partial. not something to look forward to. go for a second opinion, and in fact change ENTs altogether. my daughter had it when she was 4 and recovery was fine. one time bleeding, day 10, but nothing to go crazy about, trust me, go for a new one
i would check with insurance! They may not cover a second one should they grow back! I def wouldn't want to pay for a second procedure
I'm not sure about a partial but my son had a complete tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy at age 5. The procedure and recovery were so easy compared to what I had feared! I don't know what symptoms are leading you to this surgery but my son has not had a single case of strep throat since the procedure (3 years ago) and has improved quality of sleep.
Good luck,
K.
I don't know why they wouldn't just do the whole thing instead of having the chance of them growing back? My daughter was 2 when she had her tonsils taken out. She had horrible fevers, seizures, and about 12 boughts of strep before we had them taken out. Is it a pediatric ENT you are seeing? Our regular ENT was reluctant to take her tonsils out.
Also it was recommended we take her adnoids out at the same time but we decided to wait. She later developed enlarged adnoids and required tubes in her ears. Both surgeries we had this last month. Personally I would do the whole surgery at once. Get a second opinion if possible. We saw Dr. Beste out of Children's Hospital Milwaukee.
Our son had his tonsils out when he was 3 also. We had heard of the partial, but we decided to do the full tonsils and adenoids too. Are main concern was that he had already been under local anesthesia once for tubes. We didn't want to do a partial and risk that he would have to go under for a 3rd time. P.S. He recovered very quickly.
I would also get a second opinion. But just a thought, your three year old won't remember the pain and recovery like an older child or adult, so if you have to do a second surgery when would it be done? My pediatric ENT told my mom to absolutely not remove my tonsils and I suffered from infections most of my child and well into my 20s when I finally had them removed!! If you are going to go through with the surgery I would just do it because obviously there is a reason to remove them so what's the point of only removing part of them.
Woh woh woh! Let's not be so quick to judge this ENT. Partial tonsillectomies have been proven to be less invasive and just as successful for certain ailments in young children. This approach is much less painful and decreases the risk of children experiencing severe dehydration compared with children that have the full tonsillectomy. This means they're way less likely to land back in the emergency room! A full tonsillectomy involves burning the tonsils whereas the partial is basically a "shaving" process. Therefore, there is also less blessing and less risk of post-op infection....also, its very rare that tonsils "grow back" and if they do, they may not be as large as before. Again, it's rare...like a 1-2% chance. These are all very good reasons to consider the partial tonsillectomy if your ENT recommends it. Especially for little kiddos like 3yo and under! My son is having it and I'm glad its an option for him.
I've not heard of the partial, but my son had a full tonsil and adenoidectomy when he was two. He was fully recovered the next morning and back to eating regular foods (no super hard stuff of course). Personally, I'm in your camp--just get it all yanked then you don't have to worry about it again. I guess I don't understand how the benefits outweigh the possibility of another surgery down the road.
S.
I would get a second opinion from another ENT!!!! Three seems very young to have that procedure done!!! My son's pediatric ENT said they used to do them all the time (like our generation and before), but now he only does them very, very sparingly and when they are completely necessary, based on observations over at least a year's time of things like recurring or hard to get rid of strep throat. I'm curious what is going on that he thinks it's necessary to operate on a toddler, whether full or partial! Also, that same ENT said when he does the surgery on tonsils, he usually removes the adnoids, too--- what did your ENT say about that???? I would do more research and for sure get a second opinion!!
I have never heard of a Partial Tonsillectomy, but both of my sons have had there tonsils and adnoids. One at 2 1/2 and one at 4. My 2 1/2 year old son recovered a lot faster then my older son did. If i was in your boat i would take out all of it. Why take the chance of possibly putting him under twice. We had to stay in the hospital over night because of his age and he was all over the hospital.
