SAFETY OF POWERED INSTRUMENTATION FOR ADENOIDECTOMY

A recent study established the utility of an endoscopic shaver for ade noidectomy in children by the transoral approach and showed that power assisted adenoidectomy (PAA) was significantly faster with a trend to ward decreased blood loss. The purpose of this study was to demonstrat e the safety of power assisted adenoidectomy in a large cohort of pati ents. A retrospective review was performed of 329 patients who had ade noidectomy by powered instrumentation. Postoperative complications wer e documented and compared with a similar group that had curette adenoi dectomy. Complications watched for included prolonged recovery, postop erative hemorrhage, readmission far dehydration, velopharyngeal insuff iciency, and nasopharyngeal stenosis. No postoperative complications w ere seen in the power assisted adenoidectomy group. This review confir ms the safety of power assisted adenoidectomy. (C) 1998 Published by E lsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.