tonsillectomy

DEFINITION of tonsillectomy

Surgical excision of the palatine tonsils from the tonsillar fossa. This procedure involves complete or partial removal of the tonsils—lymphoid tissues at the back of the throat—to alleviate chronic infections, peritonsillar abscesses, or airway obstruction from hypertrophy. Performed endoscopically or traditionally with tools like a snare or electrocautery, it carries risks like postoperative hemorrhage (most common in the first 24 hours or days 5-10), pain, dehydration, and transient trismus from pharyngeal muscle spasm or inflammation; recovery usually spans 7-14 days with dietary management and analgesics.

---

ETYMOLOGY of tonsillectomy

latin tonsillae (almond) + Greek ektome (excision)

---

RELATED TERMS to tonsillectomy

Adenoidectomy Pharyngitis Peritonsillar

---

DERIVATIONS of tonsillectomy

TABLE definition AS Definition
FROM #medterm 
WHERE length(filter(roots, (word) => econtains([[]].roots, word))) > 0 AND file.name != [[]].file.name
SORT file.name ASC

---

Query functionality

TABLE definition AS Definition
FROM #medterm 
WHERE length(filter(definition, (word) => econtains([[]].definition, word))) > 0 AND file.name != [[]].file.name

Med roots Appendix A Prefixes Appendix B Combining Forms Appendix C Suffixes Appendix D Suffix forms