Direct adenoidectomy is now universally accepted among practitioners of our specialty, although armamentarium and techniques vary considerably about the country. The literature on the subject is of very modest proportions as perhaps befits so apparently commonplace a procedure. Yet, though we marvel at the advances made in the more spectacular fields of fenestration and stapedial mobilization, it is perhaps well to reflect that far more people become hearing cripples from otitis media and its sequelae than from otosclerosis. On this account, we have been wont to chide pediatricians and general practitioners for not performing more myringotomies. The workmanship of our own adenoidectomies is undoubtedly of equal importance. Consequently, the literature of adenoidectomy, though not voluminous, is of the highest significance.
Review of this literature reveals considerable lack of agreement as to the historical origins of the direct approach to adenoidectomy. Concise resumes have been given by Senturia* and myself.3