What is the standard guideline regarding antibiotic prophylaxis for routine tonsillectomy?

• A. No routine perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis is recommended
• B. Antibiotics should be given preoperatively in all cases
• C. Antibiotics should be given postoperatively for 5 days
• D. Antibiotics should be given for 24 hours only

Answer: (A)

Perioperative antibiotics are not needed for routine tonsillectomy in otherwise healthy patients. The main idea is that giving antibiotics around the time of a standard tonsillectomy does not reliably reduce postoperative infections, pain, or other complications, so it doesn’t provide meaningful benefit. At the same time, it introduces risks like adverse drug reactions, changes in gut flora, and antimicrobial resistance. Because the lack of proven benefit plus potential harms outweigh any small or uncertain gains, guidelines recommend not using routine antibiotic prophylaxis for these cases. Antibiotics would only be considered in specific situations (for example, immune compromise or other concurrent infections), but not as a standard perioperative measure.