Bacteremia after tonsillectomy was investigated in 40 patients with chronic tonsillitis, recurrent tonsillitis, and peritonsillar abscess. The patients were devided into three treatment groups: no chemotherapy (20), ampicillin (13) and clindamycin (7).
The right tonsil was usually resected first. Immediately after tonsillectomy 15 ml of venous blood was placed in culture bottles (Eiken No. 1 to No. 3), 5 ml in each bottle.
Blood cultures were positive in 17 (56.7%) of the 30 controls and in 8 (61.5%) of ampicillin group. In the clindamycin group all cultures were negative.
A total of 18 species and 38 strains of bacteria were isolated and indentified from the 25 positive blood cultures, 21 strains (55.2%) of aerobes and 17 strains (44.7%) of anarobes. The most frequently isolated bacteria were: Streptococcus sanguis (28.9%), S. pneumoniae (5.3%), S. anginosus (5.3%), Haemophilus influenzae (5.3%), S. intermedius (10.5%), Peptostreptcoccus asaccharolyticus (7.9%), S. morbillorum (5.3%) and P. anaerobius (5.3%).
The incidence of bacteremia was much higher than had been expected. Although bacteremia after tonsillectomy might be transient, it seems mandatory to use a second generation cephalosporin or clindamycin during and after surgery.