'Too many children' have tonsils removed unnecessarily

Thousands of children are having their tonsils removed unnecessarily, costing the NHS millions of pounds each year, according to experts.

They found seven in every eight children given tonsillectomies were unlikely to benefit from the operation.

NHS England has already said it's going to be cut out, along with other "ineffective" treatments, where the harms outweigh any gains.

Children may be given tonsillectomy after several tips of bad sore throat.

Prof. Tom Marshall and his team at the University of Birmingham

• more than seven documents sore throats in a year
• more than five sore throats for two years
• three sore throats for one year

Over-treated

They looked at the UK medical records of more than 1.6 million children between 2005 and 2016.

They had more than 18,000 children who had their tonsils removed during this time, only 2.144 (about 12%).

Almost one in 10 had suffered just before being offered surgery, they report in the British Journal of General Practice.

Two or three children per 1,000 tons of tonsillectomy between 2005 and 2016 – but fewer than one in eight of them.

Based on the findings, the researchers estimate that 32,500 of the 37,000 child tonsillectomies in 2016-2017 in the UK were unnecessary, costing the NHS £ 36.9m.

Prof. Marshall said that while he is still suffering from severe pain, he says, "the research is underestimated.

Although complications from the surgery are rare, they can be severe.

NHS England said: "This study shows why the NHS, the medical profession and patients are working more effectively than others.

ENT UK, which represents surgeons, said the profession should be offered to tonsillectomy, as per guidelines.