Comparison of Post-Tonsillectomy Hemorrhage rate in patients undergoing two commonly used Tonsillectomy Methods.

Abstract

Objective: To compare the cold steel method and bipolar diathermy in tonsillectomies in terms of post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage. Study Design: Randomized Controlled Trial. Setting: Department of ENT, Head & Neck Surgery, Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad. Period: 29th October 2020 to 1st June 2022. Methods: A total of 102 patients of both genders with ages 3 to 59 years undergoing tonsillectomy were included. Patients undergoing antiplatelet therapy, experiencing bleeding diathesis, possessing a high anesthetic risk, having uncontrolled medical conditions, suffering from anemia, or currently dealing with acute infections were not included in the study. Patients were divided into two groups A & B. Group A patients were operated by the Cold steel method and Group B were operated by Bipolar diathermy. All the surgeries were performed by the same surgical team. Both tonsils were fully exposed by Boyl Devi's mouth gag under general anesthesia. Complete removal of both tonsils was done with the Cold steel method in group A and by using Bipolar diathermy in group B. Post-operative hemorrhage (occurring 24 hours after surgery) without the necessity to return to the operation theatre for intervention was assessed. Results: The mean age of patients in group A was 20.0 ± 13.83 years and in group B was 19.12 ± 13.17 years. The majority of the patients 79 (77.45%) were between 3 to 30 years of age. Out of 102 patients, 63 (61.76%) were males and 39 (38.24%) were females with male to female ratio of 1.6:1. Frequency of secondary hemorrhage in Group A (cold steel method) was found in 01 (1.96%) while in Group B (bipolar diathermy) was 06 (11.76%) (p-value = 0.050). Conclusion: This study concluded that the frequency of post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage is higher in patients operated by bipolar diathermy as compared to the cold steel method.