Tonsillectomy Versus Tonsillotomy in Pediatric Sleep-Disordered Breathing: A Systematic Review and Multi-subgroup Meta-analysis

Objectives

To evaluate the potential of tonsillotomy (TT) as an alternative to tonsillectomy (TE) for treating children with obstructive sleep-disordered breathing (oSDB).

Data Sources

Two independent reviewers searched PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Embase, and additional sources to identify controlled studies comparing TT versus TE in pediatric patients with oSDB.

Review Methods

We evaluated post-surgery symptom relief, and short- and long-term postoperative benefits for children. Fixed-effect meta-analysis, sensitivity analysis, and subgroup analysis were conducted.

Results

In our analysis of 32 studies with 9,430 children, the analysis revealed TT group had a similar therapeutic effect on improvement of OSA-18 as TE group (MD = 5.20, 95% CI: −32.67 to 43.07, p = 0.96). In terms of short-term outcome, the days to return to normal diet for TT group were shorter than that for TE group (MD = −2.49, 95%CI: −3.57 to −1.28; p < 0.001), less analgesics use (MD = −3.19, 95% CI = −3.44 to −2.93, p < 0.001), and lower postoperative secondary bleeding (RR = 0.33; 95%CI: 0.23 to 0.47; p < 0.001). But the risk of reoperation (OR = 8.28; 95%CI: 2.66 to 12.64; p < 0.001), oSDB recurrence (OR = 2.16; 95%CI: 1.20–3.86; p = 0.01), and postoperative infection (OR = 1.82; 95%CI: 1.34 to 2.47; p < 0.001) in TT group was significantly higher than that in TE group.

Conclusions

Tonsillotomy reduces postoperative pain and bleeding, speeding up recovery for children with oSDB, and improving their quality of life. Yet, the risk of recurrent infections from residual tonsil tissue, which may require reoperation, calls for a careful evaluation of the procedure's short-term gains against its long-term risks.

Level of Evidence

NA Laryngoscope, 135:529–539, 2025