ORAL FLUID INTAKE FOLLOWING TONSILLECTOMY

Children undergoing tonsillectomy surgery traditionally have been requ ired to drink a specified amount of fluid before being discharged home . With increasing economic pressures, same-day discharge tonsillectomy has become common, and several studies have shown it to be safe for t he appropriately selected child, To examine the role of required oral fluid intake following tonsillectomy, a non-randomized cohort study wa s performed with 200 consecutive tonsillectomy patients scheduled for same-day discharge. The first 100 patients (group 1) were required to drink 20 cc/kg prior to discharge, and the next 100 patients (group 2) were not required to drink, The mean oral fluid intake prior to disch arge decreased significantly between the two groups from 524 cc in gro up 1 to 130 cc in group 2 (P = 0.0001). The mean length of stay also d ecreased significantly from 13.8 h for group 1 to 10.0 h for group 2 ( P = 0.0001). Sixty percent of children in each group vomited at least once following surgery. Fewer children in group 2 had protracted vomit ing (8 versus 15) although this was not statistically significant (P = 0.12). No children were readmitted to the hospital for dehydration fo llowing discharge. Overall, 71% of children in group 1 scheduled to go home the same day were discharged on time, compared to 94% of childre n in group 2. In conclusion, it is safe and economically efficient to discharge tonsillectomy patients home prior to the resumption of norma l oral fluid intake. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.