HF 5746

Caring for Your Child After a Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy

Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy

This is a surgery to remove lymph tissue that lies on either side of the back of the throat and behind the nose.

What to Expect

After surgery, your child may have:

  • Sore throat. This may last 7-14 days.

  • Ear, jaw, and neck pain. It may not start until 3-4 days after surgery. This may last for 7-14 days.

  • Nausea and vomiting. Your doctor may prescribe medicine to help this at home.

  • A yellow-grey membrane where the tonsils were removed. It will slowly go away as the area heals, often in 3-4 weeks. It should not be swabbed to test for infection at anytime during these 3-4 weeks. Reach out to your surgeon’s office with any concerns with appearance.

  • Bad breath. Your child’s breath may be bad smelling for many days while the throat is healing. Drinking plenty of liquids helps decrease the odor. You should still brush their teeth.

  • Snoring/nasally voice. This is while the throat heals. If it lasts longer thana month, please tell your doctor.

  • A low-grade fever up to 102°. This is normal for up to 7 days after surgery.

  • Restless, disturbed sleep or nightmares. This will last for a couple of weeks.

Pain Relief

Your doctor will prescribe medicine for sore throat and ear pain. Focus on pain control so that your child can drink plenty of fluids.

You will be given prescriptions for post-op acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen. You will be told the proper dosages for both medicines on the day of surgery.

Give pain medicine every 6 hours for the first 48-72 hours After that time, you can try spacing them out. If your child stops drinking or has increased pain, please go back to giving them every 6 hours. Most children require them every 6 hours for the full recovery period (7-10 days)

A prescription may also be given to treat severe pain. It may be used as directed if acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen don’t relieve the pain.

Try to time the pain medicine so that your child takes it about 1 hour before meals. This will help to decrease pain when your child swallows.

An ice pack may help. You may want to put a small bag of frozen corn or peas in a plastic bag and wrap it in a towel. Place it on the throat for 20 minutes at a time.

A warm heating pad or compress may help with ear pain. Do not use the heating pad on high and do not sleep on it.

A humidifier or vaporizer may ease throat soreness and should be used, especially during sleep.

Activity

Limit your child’s activity for 1 week.

  • Your child should avoid strenuous exercise and activity, swimming, or lifting more than 25 lbs.

  • Plan for your child to be out of school or daycare for at least 1 week.

  • Be sure your child gets plenty of rest.

Diet

Your child may lose weight from eating less than normal. This is okay as long they are drinking plenty of fluids.

Follow the “tonsillectomy diet” for one week. This means:

  • Begin with clear liquids such as: water, broth, apple juice, popsicles, Jell-o Hi-C, and Kool-Aid. Coldor lukewarm liquids may feel better at first. Frequent small sips are better than quickly drinking a large amount of fluid and then not drinking for the next few hours.

  • Straws, sippy cups, bottles, and pacifiers are all okay to use.

  • Other foods that your child may like are pudding, ice cream, milkshakes, and cream soup.

  • Your child may eat soft foods as soon as they feel able to. Soft foods include scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, cooked cereal, yogurt, and applesauce.

Some children eat solid foods earlier than others. Your child will eat solid foods when able to swallow better. It is normal if your child does not want to eat solid foods the first week. It is vital to drink plenty of liquids. Acidic or spicy foods (orange or grapefruit juice, tomatoes) may make your child’s throat sorer but won’t do any harm.

Do not feed your child rough and crunchy foods an entire week. These foods may scratch your child’s throat and cause bleeding. This includes:
•Popcorn
•Pretzels
•Potato chips, other chips
•Crackers
•Nuts
•Cold cereal

Follow-Up

Your child will not have a follow-up clinic visit unless there is a problem. You may call at any time with questions or concerns.

When to Call

Call if your child has:

  • Any bleeding.

  • Dehydration. Your child should be urinating at least twice in 24 hours.

  • Nausea and vomiting that do not go away in the first 2 weeks after surgery.

  • A fever over 102°.

  • Pain not controlled with medicine.

  • A feeling that your child is not healing as they should. It takes about7-10 days before they start to feel better.

Who to Call

If your child was seen for their pre-op appointment in the Pediatric ENT Clinic in Madison at the American Family Children’s Hospital, please call (608) 263-6420, extension 3, Monday through Friday, 8:00 am – 4:30 pm.

If your child was seen for their pre-op appointment in the Pediatric ENT Clinic in Rockford at the Women and Children’s Hospital, please call (779) 696-8499, Monday through Friday, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm.

After hours, weekends or holidays, please call the Madison/American Family Children’s Hospital phone number. This number will give you the paging operator. Ask for the otolaryngology (ENT) doctor on call. Leave your name and phone number with the area code.

The doctor will call you back.

The toll-free number is 1-800-323-8942