PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Dana Šumilo AU - Linda Nichols AU - Ronan Ryan AU - Tom Marshall TI - Incidence of indications for tonsillectomy and frequency of evidence-based surgery: a 12-year retrospective cohort study of primary care electronic records AID - 10.3399/bjgp18X699833 DP - 2019 Jan 01 TA - British Journal of General Practice PG - e33--e41 VI - 69 IP - 678 4099 - http://bjgp.org/content/69/678/e33.short 4100 - http://bjgp.org/content/69/678/e33.full SO - Br J Gen Pract2019 Jan 01; 69 AB - Background Neither the incidence of indications for childhood tonsillectomy nor the proportion of tonsillectomies that are evidence-based is known.Aim To determine the incidence of indications for tonsillectomy in UK children, and the proportion of tonsillectomies meeting evidence-based criteria.Design and setting A retrospective cohort study of electronic medical records of children aged 0–15 years registered with 739 UK general practices contributing to a research database.Method Children with recorded indications for tonsillectomy were identified from electronic medical records. Evidence-based indications included documented sore throats of sufficient frequency and severity (Paradise criteria); periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis, and cervical adenitis syndrome (PFAPA); or tonsillar tumour. Other indications were considered non-evidence-based. The numbers of children subsequently undergoing tonsillectomy was then identified. The numbers with evidence-based and non-evidence-based indications for surgery among children who had undergone tonsillectomy were determined.Results The authors included 1 630 807 children followed up for 7 200 159 person–years between 2005 and 2016. Incidence of evidence-based indications for tonsillectomy was 4.2 per 1000 person years; 13.6% (2144/15 760) underwent tonsillectomy. Incidence of childhood tonsillectomy was 2.5 per 1000 person years; 11.7% (2144/18 281) had evidence-based indications, almost all with Paradise criteria. The proportion of evidence-based tonsillectomies was unchanged over 12 years. Most childhood tonsillectomies followed non-evidence-based indications: five to six sore throats (12.4%) in 1 year, two to four sore throats (44.6%) in 1 year, sleep disordered breathing (12.3%), or obstructive sleep apnoea (3.9%).Conclusion In the UK, few children with evidence-based indications undergo tonsillectomy and seven in eight of those who do (32 500 of 37 000 annually) are unlikely to benefit.