PEDIATRICS Vol. 62 No. 4 October 1978, pp. 553
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X-RAY TREATMENT OF TONSILS AND ADENOIDS IN CHILDREN, VIEWED AS ABSOLUTELY HARMLESS IN 1921

T. E. C. Jr. M.D.

Medical literature when read with the advantage of hindsight is filled with many false statements, as is evident from these which were abstracted from a pediatric paper published in 1921.

The development of x-ray therapy of tonsils and adenoids and the absolute safety of this method as compared with the incomplete and partial removal of tonsils and adenoids, not to mention the possible dangers and complications attending operative procedure, indicate a marked advance in the therapy of rheumatism, endocarditis, pericarditis, and all those conditions resulting from the focal infection of the throat. . . .

That the x-ray method of treating tonsils and adenoids is not only safe but absolutely harmless has been definitely proven by the large number of cases of tubercular glands of the neck that have been treated by x-ray in the past 10 years throughout the world. These cases require vastly more treatment and a much more extensive area of exposure than the x-ray treatment of tonsils. . . .

The possibility of an x-ray burn is even more remote than injury to the adjacent glands provided the technique is properly carried out. This is largely due to the perfection and constancy of the present day interrupterless machine and Coolidge tube.