The present study was undertaken for the purpose of the comparative analysis of the degree of severity and inflammation-induced changes in palatine tonsils of the patients presenting with non-anginous forms of chronic tonsillitis both on the side of development of paratonsillitis and on the opposite side showing no visually visible signs of the acute inflammatory process. The secondary objective of the study was to compare pain syndrome during abscess-tonsillectomy and tonsillectomy proper, respectively. We analysed the causes behind the reduction of the total number of tonsillectomies for the treatment of chronic tonsillitis available from the accessible literature for the past 10 years. Moreover the analysis of medical records of the patients with chronic tonsillitis and delayed paratonsillar abscess was performed based on the results of the treatment of the patients admitted to the Otorhinolaryngological Department of the City Clinical Hospital No 1 during the period from 2002 and 2011. The severity of clinical manifestations of the inflammatory process was estimated based on the study of palatine tonsil biopsies removed during surgery using the radioautographic technique. The severity of pain syndrome during abscess-tonsillectomy and tonsillectomy proper was evaluated based on the McGill pain questionnaire. The results of the study confirmed apparent tonsillar inflammation in the patients presenting with chronic tonsillitis including its non-anginous forms.