Published in:
01-11-2013 | Editorial
Tonsillotomy: it's time to clarify the facts
Authors:
Jochen P. Windfuhr, Jochen A. Werner
Published in:
European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology
|
Issue 12/2013
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Excerpt
Finger nails, wires, specialized knives, slings and guillotines in the 19th and 20th century were used for subtotal tonsillectomy to reduce the risk of serious bleeding complications associated with complete removal of tonsillar tissues. Therefore, success of tonsil procedures at that time was widely based on revision surgery to cure patients suffering from diseases associated with tonsillitis. Complete, i.e., extracapsular, tonsillectomy (TE) was conceived in the first decade of the 20th century but became widespread only with safer anesthesiological techniques, particularly orotracheal intubation and introduction of halothan in the 1950s [
1,
2]. …