{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,15]],"date-time":"2026-09-15T21:23:41Z","timestamp":1789507421790,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,3]],"date-time":"2026-02-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770076800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Objective: The primary objective of this study is to investigate the prevalence of unexpected findings requiring treatment after routine histological examinations following tonsillectomy, tonsillotomy, adenotomy, or conchotomy (TTAC) in a retrospective study and to discuss whether routine histological examination is useful in patients without clearly defined risk factors or whether it would be better to reduce unnecessary costs and resource utilisation. Materials and methods: The present retrospective study encompasses 5709 patients who underwent routine histological examinations following TTAC and were treated as inpatients at the University Medical Center Freiburg, Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, between 2011 and 2021. The data was collected based on patient characteristics, including date of birth, gender, age of patients at the time of surgery, date of surgery, indication for surgery, tissue examined, and histological result. Results: Of a total of 6687 patients who underwent TTAC, 5709 with routine histological examinations were included in the analysis, of whom only four showed abnormal findings, corresponding to an overall prevalence of 0.07%. Three of these four patients were adults. These included two cases of granulomatous inflammation, one instance of Burkitt lymphoma, and one instance of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia\/small cell B-lymphoma. Following the exclusion of tuberculosis and sarcoidosis, and the lymphoma board\u2019s decision to adopt a watch-and-wait approach in the case of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia\/small cell B-cell lymphoma, only n = 1\/0.0175% of patients were found to require treatment. Conclusions: The study demonstrated that only four abnormal histological findings occurred in 5709 inpatient TTACs, of which only one, namely Burkitt lymphoma, ultimately required treatment. Consequently, it can be concluded that routine histological examinations following TTAC are not beneficial in patients without clearly defined risk factors, such as blood in the saliva, history of smoking or alcohol consumption, unexplained pain, previous cancer, mucosal changes, or tissue asymmetries. However, in instances where clinical or anamnestic suspicion of malignancy is present, a histological examination should be conducted.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm15031195","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,3]],"date-time":"2026-02-03T12:46:11Z","timestamp":1770122771000},"page":"1195","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Routine Histopreparations After Tonsillectomy, Tonsillotomy, Adenotomy or Conchotomy: A Necessary Diagnosis in Times of Dwindling Resources?"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6147-7986","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Givi","family":"Magradze","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical Center\u2013University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, 79106 Freiburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-6493-9717","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Felix","family":"Deffner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical Center\u2013University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, 79106 Freiburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Manuel Christoph","family":"Ketterer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical Center\u2013University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, 79106 Freiburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8385-0785","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Christoph","family":"Becker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical Center\u2013University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, 79106 Freiburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andreas","family":"Knopf","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Medical Center\u2013University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, 79106 Freiburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"215","DOI":"10.1007\/s00106-020-00826-z","article-title":"Diagnostik und Therapie der adenotonsill\u00e4ren Hyperplasie im Kindesalter","volume":"68","author":"Stupp","year":"2020","journal-title":"HNO"},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"(2024, January 22). \u00a9 Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis) 2023, Operationen und Prozeduren an Vollstation\u00e4ren Patienten: Deutschland, Jahre, Operationen und Prozeduren (1-4-Steller Hierarchie). 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