Abstract
A commonly encountered complaint in clinical practice is that of a sore throat. However, confusion prevails in the minds of the treating specialists as to what treatment protocol should be followed and how to differentiate it from tonsilliti. It was with a view to clarifying this issue that a prospective study was undertaken on 50 patients with the presenting complaint of a sore throat, of which 20 received medical treatment and 30 underwent a tonsillectomy. The preoperative throat swabs versus fine needle aspiration cultures and core cultures were also analyzed us were some predisposing factors. Available literature was reviewed and compared with findings of the current study. On the bash of this, a protocol for treatment was developed including antibiotic preference and best method of microbiological isolation of offending organisms.
Key Words: Sore throat, tonsillitis, throat swab, core culture, tonsillectomy
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (422.0 KB).
References
- 1.Wiatrak B.J., Woolley A.L. in Cumming’s Otolaryngology & head & Neck Surgery, Vol.5, Paed. Otolaryngol, chapter 12, 188.
- 2.Hayes C.S., Williamson H. Jr. (2001): Management of Group A beta hemolytic streptococcal pahryngitis, Am Fam. Physician. [PubMed]
- 3.Shapiro NL, Cunningham MJ. Streptococcal pharyngitis in children. Curr Opin Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 1995;3:369–369. doi: 10.1097/00020840-199512000-00004. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
- 4.Paradise J.L., Bluestone CD, et al. History of recurrent sore throat as an indication for tonsillectomy. The New Engl. J. of Med. 1978;298(8):409–413. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197802232980801. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 5.Cooper RJ, Hoffman RT. Principles of Appropriate Antibiotic Use for Acute Pharyngitis in Adults: Background. Ann Intern Med. 2001;134:509–577. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-134-6-200103200-00019. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 6.Woolford T.J., Ahmed A., Willat D J., et al. Spontaneous resolution of tonsillitis of tonsillitis in children on the waiting list for tonsillectomy. clin. Otolaryngol. 2000;25:428–430. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2273.2000.00402.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 7.Capper R., Canter RJ. Is there agreement among general practitioners, paediatricians and otolaryngologists about the management of children with recurrent tonsillitis. Clin. Otolaryngol. 2001;26:371–378. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2273.2001.00485.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 8.The cause of tonsillitis, Everett M.T. (1979) : The practitioner, Vol.223, 253–260 [PubMed]
- 9.Toner J.G., Stewart T.J., Campbell J.B., et al. Tonsil flora in the very young tonsillectomy patient. Clin. Otolaryngol. 1986;11:171–174. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2273.1986.tb00124.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]