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In decades preceding the development of antibiotics the removal of tonsils was recommended to prevent patient susceptibility to bacterial infection of the larynx. The procedure was known as tonsillectomy. Tonsillectomies were so popular at one time that they were a regular and lucrative feature of GP consultations. Tonsil foceps were used to grasp tonsils, prior to their removal with a companion instrument known as a ‘tonsillotome’. Details of standard tonsillectomy procedures were outlined by Dr W.H. Kelson in his 1917 observations published as Section of Laryngology.