Adenotonsillectomie bij kinderen: nog onvoldoende wetenschappelijk onderbouwd

- Tonsillectomy, in 90 of cases combined with adenoidectomy, is one of the most frequently carried out operations on children in the Netherlands: in 1998 there were 33,471 operations in children aged 0-14 years.

- This high frequency is in stark contrast to the scientific basis for the efficacy of this intervention. A meta-analysis carried out recently revealed just one good study.

- The lack of scientifically based clinical guidelines, partly explains the large international and regional differences in the number of operations carried out.

- In the Netherlands only 35 of the children operated on satisfy one of the criteria for which the effectiveness of (ad-eno)tonsillectomy has been established: frequent recurrent tonsillitis or obstructive sleep apnoea.

- A project has been started in the Netherlands to further study the effectiveness of this intervention, the results of which must contribute to a more thoroughly substantiated indication.