Doc only wants to remove tonsills

[mdmom]

For those of you whose children have had T&A removed for PANDAS/PANS....

 

Anyone had success with just removal of tonsils? The ENT that is willing to remove tonsils based on my son's history of strep and PANDAS says that he generally doesn't remove adenoids unless they look diseased when he is doing the tonsillectomy. This doc gets lots of referrals from Dr. L.

 

Should I press the doc and ask him to remove both T&A? Or have some of you seen improvement with just the tonsillectomy?

 

My son is currently not in a flare - and hasn't had one in a long time - but he is still under aggressive treatment for infections and CVID. After 3 years on antibiotics and many other meds (1 year of orals and 2 yrs IV) and supplements plus monthly HD-IVIG, he is still has high ASO and Anti-DNase B and streptozyme.

[JuliaFaith]

We left 'adenoid removal' up to the surgeon per our doctor. She did remove them.

 

Our improvement is/will be long-term. Some saw improvement right away, but for us it was just another step in getting/keeping son healthy. As you know, not everything we do is immediately obvious but can have long-term positive effects.

[Guest]

My ENT only removed my tonsils and this was about 4 months ago. He said they were scarred and totally infected. I haven't seen any improvements in my health unfortunately but my throat is better and not burning.

 

I don't know why he made this decision but he was adamant.

[colleenrn]

Three of my four children have had both tonsils and adenoids removed. Never considered just the tonsils. I think the adenoids harbor strep as much as the tonsils do. Also, whenever my children would get any type of respiratory illness, even a slight cold, they would snore and even have periods of sleep apnea. I believe it was because of their adenoids being infected. Has your dr said why he wants to leave the adenoids?

 

Colleen

[Mayzoo]

I would think the risks associated with undergoing general anesthesia twice would out way any benefits leaving the adenoids in, but I have not done the research. Our ENT never even considered leaving the adenoids as far I can tell.

[mdmom]

Doc only said he would leave adenoids if they didn't appear to be diseased when he looks in there during surgery. I would think they could look healthy but be harboring all sorts of pathogens. I really want them removed just in case - perhaps I will ask our LLMD to request this.