Question

Acute tonsillitis effects which nerve:

• A. Glossopharyngeal Nerve
• B. Facial Nerve
• C. Trigeminal nerve
• D. Vagus Nerve

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1: Locate the palatine tonsil in the lateral wall of the oropharynx, sitting in the tonsillar fossa. Whatever nerve lies in this fossa is the one threatened by tonsillar inflammation or surgery.
Step 2: The glossopharyngeal nerve (IX) passes immediately deep to the tonsillar fossa and gives the tonsil its main sensory supply. Inflammation in acute tonsillitis therefore involves this nerve, explaining the typical referred ear pain through its tympanic (Jacobson) branch. The answer is the glossopharyngeal nerve.
Step 3: Dismiss the rest. The facial nerve handles facial muscles and anterior tongue taste, not the tonsil. The vagus supplies the larynx and pharyngeal constrictors rather than the tonsil directly. The trigeminal only adds a minor maxillary sensory branch, which is not the principal nerve at risk.
\[\boxed{\text{Glossopharyngeal nerve}}\]