Benefits and Risks – Power-Assisted Adenoidectomy Ear Infections

Overview

The benefits of power-assisted adenoidectomy will vary according to your child’s age and condition. It’s important to get the answers you need from your pediatrician and ENT specialist or ear specialist.

Benefits

Compared to other methods of removing the adenoids, a power-assisted adenoidectomy may reduce the likelihood that your child will have another ear infection.¹ Additionally, some of the benefits of the procedure include:

• More precise tissue removal – With other adenoidectomy methods, it can be hard to control how much tissue is removed. Removing too much can damage nearby tissue, causing complications. Remove too little and the adenoids can grow back. Using a power-assisted microdebrider gives the surgeon more control.
• A faster procedure with less blood loss – All adenoid surgery involves some bleeding. With the microdebrider, however, there is slightly less bleeding during surgery. The surgeon can also work more quickly with the microdebrider, which is important if the adenoids are quite large.
• Improved visualization and access to anatomy – When using the microdebrider, the surgeon can remove tissue quickly, safely, and more precisely because he or she can directly see the adenoids during the procedure. The microdebrider’s shape gives the surgeon better access to the difficult area where the adenoids are located.

Risks

Because the surgeon has more control and can see the anatomy better, the risks associated with power-assisted adenoidectomy are less than with other methods. Complications are rare and when they happen, they’re usually minor.

Bleeding is the most common complication, but it’s very rare. The surface area where the adenoids were located usually becomes mildly infected on the surface after surgery. This results in about one week of bad breath. Serious infections are rare.