[Effects of adenoidectomy and tonsillectomy on the bacterial flora of the nose and oropharynx]. / Efectos de la adenoidectomía y amigdalectomía sobre la flora bacteriana naso y orofaríngea.

The oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal microbial flora was studied in 55 children with recurrent tonsillitis and in 85 with chronic adenoiditis. Swabs were made of both regions one day before surgical removal and on postoperative days 10 and 30, swabs were cultured on suitable media and processed for identification and quantitative estimation. Most of the potentially pathogenic species exhibited beta-lactamase production. After adenoidectomy or tonsillectomy this potentially pathogenic flora showed a quantitative decrease in the number identified and in their growth rate. In contrast, Bacteria considered part of the normal flora showed an increase in their were isolated more frequently although a quantitative decrease was observed in some instances. These findings suggest that adenoidectomy and tonsillectomy result in evident modifications in potentially pathogenic flora in these sites as a result of replacement by the normal flora. There are microbiological findings that justify surgical procedures in case of failure of antibiotic treatment.