Comparison of three techniques for tonsillectomy during free medical camps in Yemen

Analysis of Different Techniques of Tonsillectomy: An Insight

Tonsillectomy is one of the most commonly performed surgical procedure in otolaryngology especially in children. This is an age old procedure which has seen continuous changes in the surgical technique from guillotine method to snare technique to coblation tonsillectomy, and is still evolving day by day. But there are no consensus as to which technique is the best or most appropriate for tonsillectomy. The objective of this study is to compare three different surgical techniques of tonsillectomy namely the Cold dissection snare technique (CDST), Bipolar electro-dissection technique (BEDT) and Harmonic scalpel technique (HST) and to identify the method which is safe, with less operative time, which offers decreased intra-operative blood loss and with lowest post-operative morbidity and complications. This prospective and comparative study was conducted over a time duration of 1 year 6 months from January 2018 to July 2019 after the approval from ethical committee. Total 150 cases of tonsillectomy were done by dividing into three groups of 50 cases each. The study showed maximum cases of tonsillitis in the age group less than 10 years and the most common indication for tonsillectomy being chronic recurrent tonsillitis. Harmonic scalpel technique (HST) had least operative time, least intra-operative blood loss, took minimum time for resumption of normal diet and normal activity and also had least pain score on post-operative day 1st, 5th, 10th and 15th. STATISTICS: Kruskall-Wallis and the non-parametric Analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests were applied to determine statistically significant variances. All the differences are found to be significant P < 0.05. Harmonic Scalpel Technique (HST) is the latest technique as it is associated with quicker procedure, less intraoperative blood loss and less post-operative pain.

The application of xylocaine 10% pump-spray to improve immediate post-adenotonsillectomy pain in children: A randomized controlled trial

INTRODUCTION

Post-adenotonsillectomy pain is often severe, requiring substantial analgesia in the first 48-72 h. This pain is not only distressing to the patient and his or her parents, but often reflects poorly on an otherwise well performed procedure. Safe, simple and effective post-adenotonsillectomy pain control is still clinically elusive, even though a multitude of surgical and analgesic interventions have been proposed.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the analgesic properties of immediate post-operative application of xylocaine 10% pump spray to the tonsillar fossae in children having undergone adenotonsillectomy and how this impacts on anesthetic emergence and pain control in the first 24-h.

METHODS

In this double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, 80 children were stratified into two groups: Group I (3-8 years-old) and Group II (9-14 years-old). Within these groups, participants were randomized to receive either xylocaine 10% pump spray or normal saline 0.9% post-operatively. A standardized anesthetic/analgesic regime was used intra-operatively. The same surgeon performed all surgeries using bi-polar diathermy. Outcome variables included state of anesthetic emergence; pain scores at specific intervals; need for rescue analgesia; post-operative nausea and vomiting; time to first oral intake and comfort associated with initial oral intake.

RESULTS

Xylocaine 10% pump spray consistently provided superior pain control at all time intervals compared to normal saline 0.9% (p = 0.011). This was most pronounced in children 3-8 years old (Group I). Xylocaine 10% pump spray and normal saline 0.9% provided similar pain relief in children 9-14 years old (Group (II) (p = 0.640). Children receiving xylocaine had a decreased incidence of emergence delirium and consistently required less rescue analgesia (p = 0.005). Children who received xylocaine did not eat sooner post-operatively, but they experienced less pain when ingesting liquids (p = 0.003) and solids (p = 0.000). Children who received xylocaine did not experience increased post-operative complications (p = 1.000) or nausea and vomiting (p = 0.153).

CONCLUSION

Xylocaine 10% spray may serve as a valuable adjunct to effective pain control post-adenotonsillectomy, especially if long acting opioids are contraindicated, as with patients with obstructive sleep apnea. The benefit of xylocaine appears to be negligible when a long acting opioid is administered. The benefits of xylocaine were most noteworthy in children aged 3-8 years old. This is the largest trial (n = 80) to date to assess the efficacy of xylocaine spray in isolation post-adenotonsillectomy. Xylocaine also offers improved comfort with oral intake and decreases emergence delirium and need for rescue analgesia without any increase in post-operative complications. Local anesthesia may decrease costs and help to solve the conundrum of a painless adenotonsillectomy especially in resource-limited settings.

Cauterization tonsillectomy as compared to traditional tonsillectomy technique

Background:

Tonsillectomy is one of the most frequently applied and oldest surgical procedures in otorhinolaryngology. Various surgical techniques are used to perform this operation including traditional and cauterization techniques.

Objectives:

To assess morbidity and efficacy and compare objectively the techniques in tonsillectomy, i.e., traditional technique and cauterization technique. This study compares the traditional and cauterization tonsillectomy techniques in view of their advantages and complications.

Methods:

This is a retrospective study and comparative study, conducted during the period from January 2017 to March 2018 from the patients attending to Alnamas General Hospital, Aseer Region, Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire was designed to compare the traditional and cauterization tonsillectomy. Fifty patients underwent traditional technique and fifty patients underwent cauterization method. The data analyzed using SPSS V.16.0 (SPSS Inc; Chicago, IL, USA).

Results:

A total of 100 patients, 62 males and 38 females, aged 8 to 16 years were included in the study. A total of 100 patients were enrolled in the study. Traditional and cauterization tonsillectomy were performed. 50 (27 male and 23 female) patients, whose ages ranged from 9 to 16 years old underwent the traditional tonsillectomy, 50 (35 male and 15 female) patients whose ages ranged from 8 to 16 years underwent cauterization. The two groups were similar for demographic parameters. The difference between mean operative times of the two methods was statistically significant. Postoperative bleeding is significantly higher in the traditional technique compared to cauterization method. Postoperative pain is significantly less in cauterization method. Only a few patients experienced fever, bleeding, and other complications related to anesthesia. The bleeding severity is significantly lower in the cauterization technique. Postoperative pain was less in cauterization technique on day 1 and day 5. Postoperative pain was from mild to severe.

Conclusion:

This study revealed significantly less postoperative complications in traditional tonsillectomy in comparison with the cauterization method. Healing time was significantly faster in cauterization technique than in traditional method.