Tonsillar Surface Micro Flora: Does it Truly Represent Pathological Tonsillar Flora?

OBJECTIVE To determine the best method of identifying core tonsillar flora. STUDY DESIGN Quasi-experimental study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY ENT Department, Combined Military Hospital, Lahore, from September 2013 to October 2015. METHODOLOGY Eighty-seven patients of recurrent tonsillitis undergoing tonsillectomy were included. All the patients, after being anaesthetised, had surface swabs taken from the tonsillar surface followed by tonsillar aspiration with a 5cc syringe. Following tonsillectomy, the tonsils were sent for culture of core flora. All three specimens from each patient were cultured according to established criteria. RESULTS The patient population had 33 (37%) female and 54 (62%) male patients. Flora of 12 (13.8%) surface swabs and 68 (78.2%) tonsillar aspirates matched the flora cultured from core of the tonsils. Chi-square test showed this difference to be significant (p-value <0.001). CONCLUSION Tonsillar aspiration gave a much more realistic picture of the tonsillar core flora as compared to surface swabs.