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Tonsil and adenoid removal - discharge

Show Alternative Names
Adenoidectomy - discharge
Removal of adenoid glands - discharge
Tonsillectomy - discharge

When You're in the Hospital

Your child had surgery to remove the tonsil and adenoid glands in the throat. These glands are located in the back of the throat and in the upper airway between the nose and the back of the throat. Often, adenoids are removed at the same time as the tonsils (tonsillectomy).

Video Transcript

After your child's tonsil or adenoid surgery - Animation

Now that your child's had a tonsillectomy or adenoidectomy what do you do when you go home? I'm Dr. Alan Greene and I want to give you some tips for going home with a child who's just had surgery. First thing to expect is your child's not going to be feeling great for a week or two, especially that first week they may still have pretty significant throat pain and may feel lower energy. So plan a pretty easy week or maybe 2 weeks after the surgery. When it comes to diet one of the most important things is getting plenty to drink. So you want lots of popsicles, fluids, juices, but avoid real citrusy or acidic juices. This isn't the time for lemonade. You also want foods that are soft going down and not crunchy or spicy. So things like jello can be good, ice cream. I still remember sherbet after my tonsillectomy when I was 4-years-old, it was wonderful. Pasta can be good, mashed potatoes, you want to avoid though toast. Toast is great after a tummy ache perhaps, but it can be really scratchy on the raw throat after a tonsillectomy. Also want to avoid really spicy foods. Now your doctor may have prescribed some medication, perhaps some for pain and perhaps some antibiotics and those should be taken regularly as prescribed. And you want to make sure and call your physician if the pain is severe and is not relieved by the pain medications that were given to you. Or if there is bright red bleeding. A little oozing afterwards is normal, but if there's a lot of bleeding it should be looked into. Or if there's real difficulty swallowing even those mashed foods or any difficulty breathing would be reasons to get back in touch with the doctor.

What to Expect at Home

Complete recovery takes about 2 weeks. If only the adenoids are removed, the recovery most often takes only a few days. Your child will have pain or discomfort that will get better slowly. Your child's tongue, mouth, throat, or jaw may be sore from the surgery.

While healing, your child may have:

  • Nose stuffiness
  • Drainage from the nose, which may be bloody
  • Ear pain
  • Sore throat
  • Bad breath
  • Slight fever for 1 to 2 days after surgery
  • Swelling of the uvula in the back of the throat

Self-care

If there is bleeding in the throat and mouth, have your child spit out the blood instead of swallowing it.

Try soft foods and cool drinks to ease throat pain, such as:

  • Jell-O and pudding
  • Pasta, mashed potatoes, and cream of wheat
  • Applesauce
  • Low-fat ice cream, yogurt, sherbet, and popsicles
  • Smoothies
  • Scrambled eggs
  • Cool soup
  • Water and juice

Foods and drinks to avoid are:

  • Orange and grapefruit juice and other drinks that contain a lot of acid.
  • Hot and spicy foods.
  • Rough foods like raw crunchy vegetables and cold cereal.
  • Dairy products that are high in fat. They may increase mucus and make it hard to swallow.

Your child's health care provider will probably prescribe pain drugs for your child to use as needed.

Avoid medicines that contain aspirin. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) is a good choice for pain after surgery. Ask your child's provider if it is OK for your child to take acetaminophen.

When to Call the Doctor

Contact the provider if your child has:

  • Low-grade fever that does not go away or a fever over 101°F (38.3°C).
  • Bright red blood coming from the mouth or nose. If bleeding is severe, take your child to the emergency room or call 911 or the local emergency number.
  • Vomiting and there is a lot of blood.
  • Breathing problems. If breathing problems are severe, take your child to the emergency room or call 911 or the local emergency number.
  • Nausea and vomiting that continues 24 hours after surgery.
  • Inability to swallow food or liquid.

Text only

Review Date: 10/28/2024

Reviewed By

Ashutosh Kacker, MD, FACS, Professor of Clinical Otolaryngology, Weill Cornell Medical College, and Attending Otolaryngologist, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.

References

Ungkanont K. Adenoidectomy. In: Meyers EN, Snyderman CH, eds. Operative Otolaryngology: Head and Neck Surgery. 3rd ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2018:chap 191.

Zur KB. Tonsils and adenoids In: Kliegman RM, St. Geme JW, Blum NJ, et al, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 22nd ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2025:chap 431.

Disclaimer

The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. No warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, is made as to the accuracy, reliability, timeliness, or correctness of any translations made by a third-party service of the information provided herein into any other language. © 1997- A.D.A.M., a business unit of Ebix, Inc. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited.

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After your child's tonsil or adenoid surgery

After your child's tonsil or adenoid surgery

Animation

Enlarged adenoids

Enlarged adenoids

Animation

 
After your child's tonsil or adenoid surgery

After your child's tonsil or adenoid surgery

Animation

Enlarged adenoids

Enlarged adenoids

Animation

 
 
 
 

After your child's tonsil or adenoid surgery - Animation

Now that your child's had a tonsillectomy or adenoidectomy what do you do when you go home? I'm Dr. Alan Greene and I want to give you some tips for going home with a child who's just had surgery. First thing to expect is your child's not going to be feeling great for a week or two, especially that first week they may still have pretty significant throat pain and may feel lower energy. So plan a pretty easy week or maybe 2 weeks after the surgery.

When it comes to diet one of the most important things is getting plenty to drink. So you want lots of popsicles, fluids, juices, but avoid real citrusy or acidic juices. This isn't the time for lemonade. You also want foods that are soft going down and not crunchy or spicy. So things like jello can be good, ice cream. I still remember sherbet after my tonsillectomy when I was 4-years-old, it was wonderful. Pasta can be good, mashed potatoes, you want to avoid though toast. Toast is great after a tummy ache perhaps, but it can be really scratchy on the raw throat after a tonsillectomy. Also want to avoid really spicy foods.

Now your doctor may have prescribed some medication, perhaps some for pain and perhaps some antibiotics and those should be taken regularly as prescribed. And you want to make sure and call your physician if the pain is severe and is not relieved by the pain medications that were given to you. Or if there is bright red bleeding. A little oozing afterwards is normal, but if there's a lot of bleeding it should be looked into. Or if there's real difficulty swallowing even those mashed foods or any difficulty breathing would be reasons to get back in touch with the doctor.

 

Enlarged adenoids - Animation

Maybe your child snores a lot. Maybe your child gets a lot of ear infections or has a lot of sore throats. There's a good chance your child has a problem with his adenoids. Let's talk about enlarged adenoids.

The adenoids are glands located between the airway your child breathes into through their nose and the back of your child's throat. Like your child's tonsils, the adenoids can often become swollen. This may happen if the adenoids grow too large, instead of shrinking as your child gets older. If the adenoids continue to grow, your child may have bad breath, cracked lips, and a dry mouth. Your child might breathe a lot through his mouth. That's because his airway can become blocked, and he may have trouble breathing through his nose. Your child may even stop breathing at times during sleep.

Your child's doctor will use a special mirror to see if the adenoids are swollen. Your child may also need an x-ray.

Your child's doctor may try to treat the chronic swelling with medications such as antibiotics. If that doesn't work, your child may need surgery to remove the adenoids.

If your child needs surgery, he will be given general anesthesia and be asleep and unable to feel pain. The surgeon will prop your child's mouth open with a small instrument, then remove the adenoid glands, while probably removing the tonsils at the same time. Your child will probably go home the same day as surgery.

Surgery to remove the adenoids, called an adenoidectomy, is one of the most common reasons children have surgery. But surgery doesn't have to be all bad. Your child can look forward to a steady diet of pudding, ice cream, and other soft and fun foods, until they feel better. And hopefully your child can look forward to fewer sore throats and ear infections, and more normal breathing, in the future.

 

After your child's tonsil or adenoid surgery - Animation

Now that your child's had a tonsillectomy or adenoidectomy what do you do when you go home? I'm Dr. Alan Greene and I want to give you some tips for going home with a child who's just had surgery. First thing to expect is your child's not going to be feeling great for a week or two, especially that first week they may still have pretty significant throat pain and may feel lower energy. So plan a pretty easy week or maybe 2 weeks after the surgery.

When it comes to diet one of the most important things is getting plenty to drink. So you want lots of popsicles, fluids, juices, but avoid real citrusy or acidic juices. This isn't the time for lemonade. You also want foods that are soft going down and not crunchy or spicy. So things like jello can be good, ice cream. I still remember sherbet after my tonsillectomy when I was 4-years-old, it was wonderful. Pasta can be good, mashed potatoes, you want to avoid though toast. Toast is great after a tummy ache perhaps, but it can be really scratchy on the raw throat after a tonsillectomy. Also want to avoid really spicy foods.

Now your doctor may have prescribed some medication, perhaps some for pain and perhaps some antibiotics and those should be taken regularly as prescribed. And you want to make sure and call your physician if the pain is severe and is not relieved by the pain medications that were given to you. Or if there is bright red bleeding. A little oozing afterwards is normal, but if there's a lot of bleeding it should be looked into. Or if there's real difficulty swallowing even those mashed foods or any difficulty breathing would be reasons to get back in touch with the doctor.

 

Enlarged adenoids - Animation

Maybe your child snores a lot. Maybe your child gets a lot of ear infections or has a lot of sore throats. There's a good chance your child has a problem with his adenoids. Let's talk about enlarged adenoids.

The adenoids are glands located between the airway your child breathes into through their nose and the back of your child's throat. Like your child's tonsils, the adenoids can often become swollen. This may happen if the adenoids grow too large, instead of shrinking as your child gets older. If the adenoids continue to grow, your child may have bad breath, cracked lips, and a dry mouth. Your child might breathe a lot through his mouth. That's because his airway can become blocked, and he may have trouble breathing through his nose. Your child may even stop breathing at times during sleep.

Your child's doctor will use a special mirror to see if the adenoids are swollen. Your child may also need an x-ray.

Your child's doctor may try to treat the chronic swelling with medications such as antibiotics. If that doesn't work, your child may need surgery to remove the adenoids.

If your child needs surgery, he will be given general anesthesia and be asleep and unable to feel pain. The surgeon will prop your child's mouth open with a small instrument, then remove the adenoid glands, while probably removing the tonsils at the same time. Your child will probably go home the same day as surgery.

Surgery to remove the adenoids, called an adenoidectomy, is one of the most common reasons children have surgery. But surgery doesn't have to be all bad. Your child can look forward to a steady diet of pudding, ice cream, and other soft and fun foods, until they feel better. And hopefully your child can look forward to fewer sore throats and ear infections, and more normal breathing, in the future.

 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 
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