Background: Traditional healers are an important part of African society. They are known to cover the
health needs of a substantial proportion of the population. It is unfortunate, however, that the
knowledge of the extent and nature of this form of traditional healing, and the people involved in the
practice is still limited.
Objective: To evaluate the perceived benefits of traditional uvulectomy among a cohort population in
Ilorin.
Materials and Methods: This study was conducted in Sango area due to the high concentration of
traditional Surgeons in this community. The control population used is from the Oja gboroo area
in Ilorin. The study was conducted between February and June 2006; everyday of the week
except Sunday from 4pm to 6pm. Sample size of three hundred and seventy-six subjects was
used for the study and three hundred and forty-four for the control.
Results: The proportion of male that had uvulectomy done was 235(62.5%) and female 141(37.5%) with
sex ratio of 1.6:1. Prevention of sore throat, treatment of sore throat, prevention of childhood
illnesses such as diarhoea, delayed growth and refusal of feeds and elongated uvula which is
causing choking feeling in the throat were major reasons for the procedure.
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Complications are rare, commonest is sore throat 34(9%), bleeding which is usually insignificant in
most cases 26(6.9%). There was no difference in the frequency of sore throat among the two
study groups. Eighty-seven percent (87%) of subjects who had uvulectomy are satisfied with the
outcome