Review links tonsillectomy to risk of Crohn's disease

(HealthDay)—Tonsillectomy is associated with increased risk of developing Crohn's disease (CD), but not ulcerative colitis (UC), according to a review and meta-analysis published in the June issue of the Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Weili Sun, M.D., from the Shanghai Institute of Digestive Disease, and colleagues conducted a systematic review to examine the correlation between tonsillectomy and the risk of inflammatory bowel disease. A random effects model was used to calculate the pooled estimates of odds ratios using data from 23 observational studies with 19,569 patients, of which 17 and 22 examined the correlation between tonsillectomy and CD and UC, respectively.

The researchers observed a positive correlation between tonsillectomy and CD development (odds ratio, 1.37; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.16 to 1.62), while no correlation was seen for UC (odds ratio, 0.94; 95 percent CI, 0.84 to 1.05). After adjustment for smoking, the pooled odds ratio for CD increased to 1.66 (95 percent CI, 1.03 to 2.68), and changed to 1.03 for UC (95 percent CI, 0.74 to 1.44).

"This meta-analysis demonstrates that tonsillectomy is associated with an increased risk of developing CD," the authors write. "We found no evidence to suggest that tonsillectomy exerts a protective effect on the development of UC, as is the case with appendectomy."

Copyright © 2016 HealthDay. All rights reserved.