• Dong-Young Kim, Yoon Chan Rah, Dae Woo Kim, Si Whan Kim, Doo Hee Han, Il Gyu Kong, Hee Jeong Yoo, Jeong-Hyun Kim, Yang-Gi Min, Chul Hee Lee, and Chae-Seo Rhee.
• Department of Otorhinolaryngology, College of Medicine, and Research Center for Sensory Organs, Medical Research Center, Seoul National University 101 Daehangno, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-744, Republic of Korea.
• Int. J. Pediatr. Otorhinolaryngol. 2008 Sep 1; 72 (9): 1359-63.

ObjectiveTonsillectomy is one of the most commonly performed procedures in children. However, parents often hesitate to agree to the procedure because of concerns of the possible harmful impact on their child's psychological health. The present study was performed to examine the short-term psychological impact on children who had undergone tonsillectomy.MethodsForty-three pediatric patients aged 3-11 years who underwent tonsillectomy were enrolled in the study. Postoperative pain was assessed using a 10-point visual analog scale (VAS) on postoperative days 1, 2, 7, and 21. The Korean version of the Child Behavior Checklist (K-CBCL) was given to the parents of the children to evaluate the psychosocial effect of tonsillectomy on the preoperative day and on postoperative day 21.ResultsThere were no significant differences in postoperative pain according to age, tonsil size, degree of adhesion, or operation time. There was no significant relationship between postoperative pain score and K-CBCL score. Sociality, total behavioral problems, externalizing problems, internalizing problems, anxiety/depression, social immaturity, and emotional lability domain scores on the K-CBCL were improved significantly.ConclusionsImprovements in general emotional and social status were observed at 3 weeks after tonsillectomy. Tonsillectomy itself does not have a harmful effect on children's psychological status.

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