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How An Adenoidectomy Is ACTUALLY Performed

28 Aug 2026 · 1 min

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1:02

In this concise instructional video, a surgeon explains the core steps of a typical adenoidectomy. The patient is placed under general anesthesia with an endotracheal tube positioned midline. Specialized, suspended mouth retractors are used to open the oral cavity while protecting the teeth, providing a clear view of the posterior throat. A mirror is employed to visualize the nasopharynx beneath the soft palate. The surgeon then uses a hot‑knife cautery device to shave the adenoid tissue layer by layer, continuing until the nasal septum and Eustachian tube openings are visible, confirming that the airway is unobstructed and properly connected to the oropharynx and lower airway. The narration is purely procedural, focusing on equipment, anatomy, and technique without patient anecdotes or outcomes.

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Adenoidectomy, let's talk about how we do it real quickly. We put the patient under general anesthesia. They get a small breathing tube right down the midline, and we open their mouth with a special set of retractors. Those retractors get suspended on a stand, so the mouth is wide open and the teeth are protected, and now you have a view of the back of the throat. So, we're essentially working at the top of the patient's head, and we're using, in the case of the adenoids, a mirror actually to look Up and under the soft palate and up into the nasopharynx. So, for an adenoidectomy, we typically use different varieties of instruments, but it's essentially a hot knife, a cautery device that will cut and coagulate blood vessels. And we essentially shave down the adenoids like a layer at a time until you can see the back of the nasal septum, you can see the Eustachian tubes, you have a clear view, and you know that the nasal breathing, the airway is now connected properly to the oropharynx and the lower airway.