BISMUTH SUBGALLATE - A SAFE MEANS TO A FASTER ADENO-TONSILLECTOMY

Tonsillectomy, with or without adenoidectomy, is one of the most commo nly performed surgical procedures and as such contributes significantl y to the surgery performed by GPs and ENT surgeons. In this randomized controlled study we compared the use of a compound bismuth subgallate (BSG) during adeno-tonsillectomy with the standard operations. Two hu ndred and two tonsillectomies were randomized into two groups. BSG was used in 90 patients while the other 112 patients were used as control s. The mean operating time was reduced from 11.5 to 9.9 minutes, the n umber of swabs from 4.5 to 3.7 and number of ties from 3.4 to 2.1. All these reductions were significant (p-values all <0.05). There were no post-operative complications in either group. Thus the use of BSG dur ing adeno-tonsillectomy or tonsillectomy along significantly decreases the operating time and results in less intra-operative haemorrhage wi th fewer ties and swabs being required.