Tonsillectomy may cause altered tongue sensation in adult patients

Objectives: To determine the frequency of altered tongue sensation following tonsillectomy, and its relationship to different surgical techniques. Design: Case-control study. Setting: District general hospital. Participants: One hundred and four consecutive adults undergoing tonsillectomy, and 43 control patients. Main outcome measures: Altered tongue sensation. Results: Twenty-eight of 100 patients described altered tongue sensation post-tonsillectomy. No patients in the control group experienced altered tongue sensation. There was a difference in rates of altered sensation between tonsillectomy patient groups undergoing bipolar diathermy and 'cold steel' techniques (p < 0.019). Three months after surgery, 22/23 contactable patients reported complete recovery of tongue sensation. One patient experienced tongue paraesthesia persisting until one year post-tonsillectomy. Conclusion: Tonsillectomy resulted in altered tongue sensation in 28 per cent of our study group. Bipolar diathermy dissection was significantly more likely to cause altered sensation than cold steel dissection. Ninety-six per cent of these disturbances resolved by three months, all by one year. Possible alteration of tongue sensation should be discussed whilst obtaining consent for tonsillectomy.