The assessment of patient-controlled analgesia with tramadol in adult tonsillectomy

Aims: To investigate the effects of patient-controlled analgesia with tramadol (PCA-T) applicated in the postoperative inpatient period for adult tonsillectomies (TT). Methods: The records of adult TTies were retrospectively scanned. The indications, surgical technique, postoperative complaints, length of stay (LOS) and re-admissions have been recorded in both groups treated with PCA-T and conventional analgesics during inpatient period. The data was analyzed with SPSS Statistics 23 program. Results: Totally 242 patients (n=242) met the inclusion criteria with a mean age of 28.47±8.44 years. PCA-T (n = 70) was mostly preferred in patients with the indications of tonsillar hypertrophy (TH) and recurrent tonsillitis (RH) + TH indications (p<0.05). In patients operated with a Plasma blade (PB), the PCA-T application rate (50.9%) was significantly higher than those operated with bipolar radiofrequency clamp (BRC) (22.1%) or cold dissection (CD) (23.0%) (p<0,001). No significant effects of PCA-T were observed on postoperative complications, LOS, and re-admission rates (p>0.05). Conclusions: Although PCA-T is more preferred for the adult TTies with an indication of TH and TTies performed with PB, it does not provide an advantage over conventional analgesic methods.