Current Trends of Surface Versus Core Bacterial Flora among Recurrent Tonsillitis Patients in a North Indian Tertiary Care Hospital

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Recurrent tonsillitis is a major cause of morbidity and may require surgical intervention when medical treatment has failed. Reasons suggested for treatment failure include the use of inappropriate antibiotics aimed at pathogens present on the tonsil surface rather than those present in the tonsil core. Material and Methods: A total of 60 cases of chronic and recurrent tonsillitis which were not responding to medical treatment and are fit and willing for surgery were included in the study. Results: The culture results of tonsillar surface and core tissue revealed that the majority of samples showed pathogens. Out of 120 cultures of tonsillar tissue,14 results showed the growth of commensal flora. Single pathogen was isolated from 86 samples from surface and core of the tonsil. However, 14 cultures of core tissue revealed growth of two pathogens as compared to 6 cultures from the tonsillar surface. Conclusion: Staphylococcus is the most common pathogen isolated from the tosillar surface as well as core followed by GABHS