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Recovery After Tonsillectomy in Adults: A Three‐Week Follow‐up Study
Author(s) -
Salonen Aarre,
Kokki Hannu,
Nuutinen Juhani
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1097/00005537-200201000-00017
Subject(s) - medicine , ketoprofen , tonsillectomy , anesthesia , analgesic , saline , placebo , adverse effect , oxycodone , bolus (digestion) , surgery , opioid , alternative medicine , receptor , pathology , pharmacology
Objective To evaluate recovery after tonsillectomy and safety and efficacy of ketoprofen in pain treatment after discharge. Study Design A prospective, longitudinal study of 102 patients undergoing tonsillectomy. Methods All patients underwent tonsillectomy (or adenotonsillectomy) under general anesthesia. In the hospital, 77 patients received a bolus of 0.5 mg/kg ketoprofen intravenously, followed by a 3‐mg/kg continuous infusion over 24 hours, and oxy‐codone for rescue analgesia. Twenty‐five patients received normal saline and oxycodone. At discharge, all patients were prescribed ketoprofen capsules at a dose of 3 to 5 mg/kg per day for postoperative pain control at home, with paracetamol–codeine tablets for rescue analgesia. At home, the patients recorded pain and analgesic consumption each day for the first week after surgery. At 3 weeks, patients recorded the total analgesic requirement, duration of pain, all adverse events during recovery, and return to normal daily activities. Results No pre‐emptive effect of ketoprofen was noticed because there was no significant difference in recovery after discharge between patients who had received ketoprofen or placebo during the first 24 hours after surgery. In the whole study group, the median of pain cessation was 11 days (range, 3–24 days) and the median of analgesic treatment was 12 days (range, 5–25 days). More than 50% of the patients needed 1 to 3 rescue analgesic doses daily during the first week after tonsillectomy. A return back to normal daily activities took place after 12 days (range, 2–24 days). Nine patients needed electrocautery to stop postoperative bleeding. No other serious adverse events occurred. Conclusions The main problem after tonsillectomy is significant pain that can last 11 to 12 days after surgery. Ketoprofen combined with paracetamol–codeine provided sufficient analgesia for most patients at home, but because ketoprofen may cause an increase in the secondary hemorrhage rate, it should be prescribed with caution.