OR / Prep · Otolaryngology, Head & Neck · open
You’re scrubbing into
Tonsillectomy
Why are we operating?
Removal of the palatine tonsils from their fossae, high-volume, deceptively routine, and owner of one of surgery's most feared small complications: the post-tonsillectomy bleed.
Indication: Recurrent tonsillitis meeting frequency criteria, obstructive sleep apnoea in children, suspected malignancy, and quinsy that recurs.
The operation in 4 steps
01Positioning and exposure
02Finding the capsule plane
03Delivery and haemostasis
04Recovery and counselling
Danger zones
Internal carotid artery
Deep or lateral diathermy and deep suture bites pass toward it through a wall the operator cannot see beyond.
Watch it done
Tonsillectomy procedure: steps of surgery and post-op care
The dissection tonsillectomy step by step, then the bleeding that matters afterwards.
Source: The ENT Resident · Watch on YouTubeTonsils and adenoids surgery
What a family is shown before the operation.
Source: Children's Hospital Colorado · Watch on YouTube
Conceptual teaching for learners preparing to observe and assist under supervision, not operative instructions. Five minutes from now you should know why this operation exists, what its shape is, and which structures it is designed not to injure.