Lingual tonsillitis.

Lingual tonsillitis can cause various signs and symptoms including nocturnal or supine cough, constant discomfort in the throat, glossal pain, and otalgia. Most patients with lingual tonsillitis have already had palatine tonsillectomy. A lingual tonsil may be visible only by using a laryngeal mirror. An embedded foreign body can cause recurrent tonsillitis with abscess formation, and life-threatening airway obstruction may result. Aberrant lingual thyroid may be the only functioning thyroid tissue. Cryosurgery and the CO2 laser have made lingual tonsillectomy a safe and simple procedure. An abscess of a lingual tonsil should be drained under general anesthesia, and lingual thyroid should be treated conservatively unless it produces obstructive symptoms.