Tonsillectomy - Anatomy and Physiology

Anatomy and Physiology (Medical / dental students) 

• Tonsils are two oval pads of tissues that are on either side of the throat and project out into it.
• The uvula is what we see dangling down from the soft palate between the tonsils.

• They are very vascular mainly to help them fight infections and are supplied by the External Carotid artery.
• The nerve supply is from the 9th Cranial nerve. This nerve also supplies to certain parts of the ear, which would explain why patients complain of ear pain after tonsillectomy.
• The adenoids are lymphoid tissue at the back of the nose in the area above the throat called the nasopharynx. We cannot see this when we look in the mirror because it sits above the soft palate, to be exact though there is only one adenoid.