Tonsillectomy is one of the most common operations and is usually associated with bleeding and pain. This study compared tonsillectomy by potassium-titanyl-phosphate (KTP-532) laser with tonsillectomy by traditional dissection and snare. Seventy-eight patients who were candidates for a tonsillectomy were randomly assigned to one of two groups in a prospective study. The two groups of treatment were bilateral KTP-532 laser tonsillectomy in 32 cases and bilateral traditional dissection and snare tonsillectomy in 46 cases. We compared the advantages and disadvantages of KTP-532 laser tonsillectomy in the aspects of 1) operative time, 2) postoperative pain and discomfort, 3) amount of blood loss during the operation. The advantages were decreased blood loss and possibility to obtain non-damaged specimen. Disadvantages of the KTP-532 laser tonsillectomy included, increases total operative time, delayed healing, and no statistical significant improvement in level of pain.