Objectives

Tonsillectomy is one of the surgical procedures done in otolaryngology practice for wide range of tonsillar diseases, the most common indication being tonsillar infections. These specimens are rarely sent for histopathology. The present study deals with histopathological changes in tonsils resected for non neoplastic conditions.

Patients and Methods

This is a descriptive analytical study on tonsils which were received for histopathology from patients who underwent tonsillectomy over a period of one year. Formalin fixed specimens were examined grossly and histopathology sections stained with H & E were studied in detail. Special stains done wherever necessary.

Results

One forty eight tonsils were included for the study. Age of the patients ranged from 3years to 52 years with male to female ratio of 1:2. Nineteen tonsils (12.7%) had colonies of Actinomycetes, Nocardia and Botromyces. Features of chronic tonsillitis were observed in all specimens.

Conclusion

Though pathological analysis of all routine tonsillectomy specimens may not alter the clinical course of management it has to be performed so that we discover an array of histopathological changes and organisms.