A 5-year review of adenoid, palatine tonsil and tympanic cavity drainage operations

Adenoid enlargement with or without palatine tonsil enragement is a common childhood disease that results in tuba auditiva dysfunction and fluid accumulation in the middle ear. First goal is to gather information on adenoid removal operations in association with middle ear drainage, caused by adenoid enlargement and chronic secretory otitis media. Second goal is to evaluate the amount of repeated middle ear drainages, after adenoid removal. Third goal is to evaluate whether enlargement of palatine tonsils promotes fluid accumulation in the middle ear. Fourth goal is to evaluate whether the frequency of visits to an otorhinlaryngologist by the patients is reduced following adenoid removal. A retrospective analysis of archived medical histories of patients who underwent surgical treatment in “AIWA Clinic” from years 2015 to 2019 was used. Statistical analysis was conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics v23. In the chosen time frame 559 adenotomies were performed, with or without palatine tonsil reductions or middle ear drainage procedures. Repeated tympanostomy insertion was required in 17 cases out of 214 middle ear drainage cases (7% of cases). The mean number consultations by otorhinolaryngologist in a year prior to operation was 3.4 visits , after the operation was 2.5 visits a year. Fluid accumulation in the middle ear was observed in 116 patients with palatine tonsil enlargement and in 98 patients without enlargement. No statistical difference between the amount of patients in both groups was found using the Wilcoxon test (p<0.0001). The mean age of patients was within the timeframe of maximum adenoid size in children. After the removal of adenoid tissue and middle ear drainage, an insignificant number of patients required repeated drainage and tympanostomy. Adenoid removal operations reduce the number of visits to an otorhinolaryngologist. Coexisting palatine tonsil enlargement has no statistically significant impact on accumulation of fluid in the middle ear.