COMPLICATIONS OF PEDIATRIC TONSILLECTOMY POSTDISCHARGE

A post-operative survey of 298 children was conducted to assess morbid ity found at home in the first five days post-tonsillectomy. Analgesic requirement (92.4 per cent), signs of distress (90.4 per cent), otalg ia (69.1 per cent), halitosis (66.7 per cent) were common. Physical or behavioural changes (36.8 per cent) and secondary haemorrhage (8.9 pe r cent) were also prominent features. Nausea was reported in 59 childr en (20.3 per cent) and delayed return to a normal diet which in turn p redisposed to secondary haemorrhage. Return to normal diet was indepen dent of pain. General Practitioners were consulted by 60.6 per cent an d more than half were prescribed drugs. The presence of an organized c lot in the tonsillar fossa (3.45 per cent) post-operatively did not de lay discharge from hospital and none of these patients re-presented wi th secondary haemorrhage. Based on their child's experience in this st udy, only one third of the parents approved of day-case tonsillectomy in principle, a finding which has implications for the instigation of day-case tonsillectomy procedures.