The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-12-17
THE HAZARDS OF roNs1LLEcroMY

THE HAZARDS OF TONSILLECTOMY March, 13, 1880, had my tonsls removed, writes victim Of the old Spanish custom. At
 the time of the operation had two hemor- images. felt worse and when went back to the doc tor who removed my tonsils he said 1t was simply my nerves and mental condition. Final ly about Six weeks later, developed a great deal of pain in my right chest and went to
 another doctor. who found I had abscess in the right lung. several months, but did not improve. had a pretty constant temperature of Ca few degrees)
 and coughed up considerable pus. One morn ing the abscess broke, as it seemed to me, and coughed up pus for about two hours con- tinually. I am still taking treatment whether you think this abscess will dry up of itself, or
 whether I should go to Arizona lost thirty pounds. (Mrs l.. C.
 Ordinarily would not publish such letter here. But my motive in doing so Is good | one believe 1t Is only fair to remind the laity that there Is a hazard in having the tonsils re- | moved in the old fashioned way, that Is, by ! gulllotne and snare or by dissection. or "enuc- | leation," whether the opration is done under a l general anesthetic or a local anesthetic Ab- | scess of the lung Is one of the hazards of ton-
 sillectomy. even if 1t happens in only one case | out of n thousand.
 | Hemorrhage Is another hazard of this major | operation which some doctors do with little | compunction and some patients undergo with | out proper preparation or realization of the 1 chances they are taking.
 | Where q general anesthetic Is employed | there other hazards which we will mol | dwell on now. | When these unfortunate "complications" oc. cur, then one wonders if the doctor who ad- | vIsed or performed the operation iS entirely | justified. Then years ago I believed a good doc | tor justified in urging or doing surgical
 tonsilectomy in many cases. and experience | convinced me that this was so. knew noth- | ing about diathermy extirpaton of the tonsils | then, if indeed anybody had developed satis. | factory technc in this modern method at that | time. To-day believe good doctor Is not jus | tifed in subjectng q patient to the hazards oi | old fashioned surgical tonsillectomy unless for | some exceptional reason the diathermy method | Is not available. l am sure I would not under | go surgical tonsillectomy, with general or local | anesthesia, myself. and I know I choose dia- | thermy as the most effective method for a
 member of my own family.
 In unskilled hands as the would be Musso- | ni of American medicine now comedies. the
 dathermy method may prove inadequate or | even injurious. But that is equally true of the snare and guillotine method. and a rather bad | adoption of the diathermy method as the | method of choice for all older children and | adults. For younger children diatherny Is moi
 available-but maybe that is just as well foi | the trend of the best practice to-day s diinctly | away from the routine removal of merely | large or prominent tonslls and adenoids ir | children under six eight years of age. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS | Blackheads and PimpIcs | How can a girl is years old get rid of black | heads and pimplcs on her face? (B. IT. R.) l Answer-She may write to me and ask fol
 advice. inclosing a stamped envelope bearing | her address.
 | What, Girls Play Football? | A number of us girls in tlic eighth grade | would like to play football. The coach Ca man.
 says he will teach us # tine principal gives per
 mission. We are all strong and healthy. W. | sould like your opinion On girls playing foot | hall. We are willing tO play "tOuch tackle"
 necessary. Virginia and Julia).
 | Answer--My opinion is that they shouldn't | Is your school hard up that girls have t' | have n male physical education teacher? | IimiDlcnt
 Some time ago [ had 6 compound frnctur'
 of the leg It still pains and would like z
 know what kind of e rmbbing solution w0uit
 be best to use at home. (W. N)
 | Answer--rhe lotion or liniinent doesn't mat ter ft is the rubbing or massage that VIII d good or harm. Your doctor should advlso you If you cannot afford medical advice. perhap camphor Iinlment (cnmph0rated oiD would b' the best thing to use for rubbing.