Canche-Martín E, Lugo-Machado JA

Language: Spanish
References: 0
Page: 40-45
PDF size: 274.05 Kb.

ABSTRACT

Background: Tonsillectomy is one of the most frequent surgical procedures performed around the world. Post-tonsillectomy bleeding is one of the most common complications of this procedure. Bleeding can be primary or secondary, the latter is the most frequent reported in the literature, it is related to the hot technique and the risk is higher in adults.
Objective: To determine the prevalence and factors associated with post-tonsillectomy bleeding.
Material and Method: An observational, retrospective, transversal and descriptive study. General description of the study: the files of patients diagnosed with post-tonsillectomy bleeding treated from January 2012 to December 2015 were reviewed. Socio-demographic data, comorbidities, laboratory results, surgical technique used, degree of tonsillar hypertrophy were taken, as well as the administration of peri-operative steroids.
Results: Of a total of 1687 procedures, 37 (2.19%) presented bleeding, of which 19 (51.4%) were female. The age range was from 2 to 51 years with an average of 17.11 years; in 6 patients (16.2%) tonsillectomy was also performed in conjunction with adenoidectomy; 67.6% was secondary type. On average, bleeding was presented at 5.57 days after surgery within a range of 0 to 12 days. With respect to surgical technique, 5 (13.5%) were with cold technique and 32 (86.5%) with hot technique. Only 19 (51.4%) received perioperative steroids. The months of the year when the greatest number of bleeding events occurred were February and March.
Conclusions: The prevalence of post-tonsillectomy bleeding in our unit is low; the secondary predominates and is more common in adults.