MICROBIPOLAR DISSECTION VS COLD KNIFE SUCTION CAUTERY TONSILLECTOMY IN CHILDREN - PRELIMINARY-RESULTS OF A PROSPECTIVE-STUDY

Tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy (T&A) is a common surgical procedure f or which many different surgical techniques have been described. Howev er, detailed information is lacking regarding complications or recover y rates for any particular procedure. A newly described technique for T&A, microbipolar dissection (MBPD) is being compared with cold knife dissection with suction cautery of bleeding vessels (CKC) in a prospec tive study of 200 children aged 2-16 years. Patients are randomly assi gned and stratified by age-group into one of two treatment arms. Intra operative and post-operative measures of T&A effectiveness relative to complications and patient recovery rate are being studied. The prelim inary data presented here focus on the reliability of the measures and potential clinical relevance of the findings in 129 of these children , with anticipated confirmation of these tentative results after compl etion of the larger cohort. Thus far it appears that post-operative bl eeding rates are significantly reduced, recovery rate is improved, and return to normal activities are all better in the MBPD patients. Alth ough these data reflect small numbers of children and must be interpre ted with caution, it appears that MBPD T&A holds great promise in redu cing the morbidity associated with the CKC technique of T&A.