Tonsillectomy: Efficacy, Safety and Complication at Warinchamrab Hospital

Abstract

          The retrospective study was performed to evaluate the efficacy, safety and complications of dissection tonsillectomy by electrocautery dissection or blunt dissection technique at ENT department, Warinchamrab Hospital, Ubon Ratchathani, by collecting data of treatments and complications in 300 patients who underwent surgical tonsillectomy of large tonsils that had caused snoring, obstructive airway while sleeping and chronic tonsillitis,
during 1 December 2009 and 10 June 2015. The results showed that there were blunt dissection technique in 162 patients and the electrocautery dissection technique in 138 patients. After surgical procedures, all the patients improved from snoring from the first day. Complications of surgery were: 1) bleeding after surgery 24 hours (secondary bleeding) in 26 patients (8.67percent) with 4 patients who needed repeat surgery to stop the bleeding, 2)
uvula edema in 18 patients (6 percent), and 3) nausea or vomiting in 21 patients (7 percent). For the post-surgical pain, most patients received only oral analgesics. There were 95 patients who required intravenous analgesic injection. Post-surgical infections were found in 4 patients (1.33 %). The electrocautery dissection tonsillectomy was safe and effective to treat symptomatic obstructive tonsillar hypertrophy and chronic tonsillitis. All patients could tolerate the procedure and improved in the snoring resulting in better quality of life. Moreover the procedure had minimal complications.