Tonsilectimia no tratamento de faringoamigdalites recorrentes.

Abstract

Pharyngotonsillitis is a common health problem, especially in children. In the majority of the cases, it presents itself in benign, viral, and self-limited clinical. This pathology prejudices quality of life, causes school and work absenteeism, resulting in frequent physician appointments and antibiotics prescriptions. Among available therapeutics, there is the tonsillectomy. This procedure is defined by the total surgical removal of palatine tonsils. The aim of this article was to verify if tonsillectomy is an effective option for recurrent pharyngotonsillitis. A search was performed on Scielo, Pubmed and Lilacs databases and an integrative review in six steps was written with the results found. The descriptors tonsillitis, pharyngitis and tonsillectomy were chosen in the structured vocabulary DeCS. The search returned 4706 articles. Inclusion criteria chosen were publication date between 2007 and 2017, language (English, Spanish or Portuguese), and research type (randomized controlled trial, systematic review or cohort studies). Final sample, after the selection process, included six publications: one randomized controlled trial, two cohort studies and three systematic reviews. These publications were discussed and organized in synoptic and discussed tables. Synthesis of sample's recommendations showed non-significant procedures’ benefit for recurrent pharyngotonsillitis when anatomic disorders or specific syndromes are not linked. These findings are not enough to contraindicate surgery. Homogeneous and well-executed studies are needed to result in more consistent conclusions in the future. Tonsillectomy's indications shall follow a complex decision-making process until more studies clarify the theme.