Tonsillitis: symptoms, diagnosis and treatment

By Cristiano Antonino On Sep 21, 2022

Tonsillitis is the inflammation of the tonsils, which are two oval, pink-coloured lymph nodes located on the sides of the throat

When there is an infection of the upper respiratory tract, the tonsils can swell, causing tonsillitis; white spots can often be seen covering the inflamed and swollen tonsils.

This condition is very common, especially in children.

Tonsillitis: the symptoms

Typical symptoms of tonsillitis are difficulty swallowing, persistent sore throat, fever, headache and loss of voice.

If not properly treated, complications associated with tonsillitis can occur such as:

Pharyngitis of bacterial or viral origin;
Obstruction of the upper airways;
Dehydration (due to difficulty swallowing);
Abscesses;
Renal failure;
Post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis.

How tonsillitis is treated

On inspection of the mouth and throat, the tonsils appear swollen and reddened, sometimes with the presence of white spots.

The lymph nodes in the neck and jaw may also appear swollen on palpation.

A culture of the tonsils may be required to search for an infection of bacterial origin, for example for streptococcus, the most common cause of inflammation.

If the cause is streptococcus or, in any case, another type of bacterium, treatment will essentially be based on the administration of oral antibiotics or intramuscular injections.

If the treatment is based on the administration of antibiotics, this must be continued until the end, without being discontinued even when improvement is noticed, otherwise the infection will not be eradicated completely.

Rest, to allow the body to recover, and over-the-counter drugs to reduce the sore throat should also be combined with antibiotic treatment.

The symptoms of tonsillitis will disappear within about three days after starting the treatment, but the treatment should be continued and may need to be prolonged beyond the first course, as complications from poorly treated streptococcal tonsillitis can be very serious.

Surgically removing the tonsils: tonsillectomy

Tonsillectomy (surgery to remove the tonsils) may be indicated in severe cases; previously, this surgery was recommended as common clinical practice.

Today, however, the tendency is to treat the tonsils and only in the most severe cases to surgically remove them, particularly when they obstruct the airways preventing normal breathing.

Since tonsillitis mainly affects children, tonsillectomy is very common in this age group, while it is very rare among adults

Surgical removal of the tonsils is performed through the patient’s mouth: the surgeon separates and then removes the tonsils from both sides of the mouth.

Complications are very rare; bleeding may occur immediately or a few days after surgery, but these episodes are controlled by the surgeon.

Usually the hospital stay varies from 8 to 10 days or is prolonged until the patient has fully recovered.

However, there are also many patients who are operated on an outpatient basis, so they go home the same day as the operation or stay in hospital for only one night.

But rest is always the guideline.

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