For children with mild/moderate throat infection symptoms, tonsillectomy (removing the tonsils) may be more costly but not necessarily better than watchful waiting, according to an article in Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery (JAMA/Archives), November issue. The authors explain that the removal of the tonsils (tonsillectomy), with or without adenoidectomy (removing the adenoids), is one of the most common surgical procedures performed on children. [click link for full article]