[Severe adenotonsillar hypertrophy in children: a new modality of surgical treatment].

The hyperplasia of the palatine tonsils, which can be often found in children suffering from the so-called "lymphatism", cannot be considered a pathological state; it simply indicates the attempt of the organism to restore a functional balance between the antigenic shock on one hand and the unitary inadequacy of the lymphatic cells to performs their tasks on the other hand. However, this hyperplasia is sometimes so serious to cause respiratory ailments and predispose several pathologies: in these cases, a surgical operation becomes necessary. Since the tonsillectomy deprives these children of the important defensive barrier represented by the palatine tonsils and the results given by the monotonsillectomy have proved to be not completely satisfactory, both for the phlogosis and for the vicarious hypertrophy of the remaining tonsil, the Authors propose a new surgical technique (never suggested before) in cases of mechanical oropharyngeal obstruction due to hyperplasia of the palatine tonsils. This surgical operation, called bilateral tonsillotomia, consists in removing the tonsillary tissue exceeding the ideal connection line between the borders of the tonsillary pillars.