Comparison between Cold Steel Method and Bipolar Diathermy Method of Tonsillectomy

Abstract

Introduction It is generally accepted that the ideal method of tonsillectomy should have less operative time, blood loss, post-operative haemorrhage and morbidity.1 Objective: To compare post-operative pain, intra-operative blood loss and duration of surgery between cold dissection and bipolar diathermy dissection method of Tonsillectomy. Materials and Methods This study was a prospective and comparative hospital-based study. It was conducted from January 2021 - June 2022 at the Department of ENT of a tertiary referral hospital, Kolkata. 90 patients were included in this study fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results In bipolar diathermy method, the mean total blood loss (in ml) (mean±s.d.) of patients was 15.0778±4.6011 and in cold steel method it was 33.0000±5.8737. Post-operative pain for cold dissection on day 1, day 3 and day 10 was [4.4889±.6613], [2.0222±.7830] and [.3778±.4903] respectively. Post-operative pain for bipolar diathermy on day 1, day 3 and day 10 was [4.9556±.2084], [2.5778±1.0111] and [1.6222±.7474] respectively. Duration (in minutes) for bipolar diathermy dissection was [15.2889±1.9612] and for cold dissection it was [24.0444±2.3351]. Conclusion The blood loss and duration were less in bipolar diathermy method but post-operative pain was more as compared to cold steel method. Keywords Tonsillectomy, cold steel, bipolar diathermy, post-operative pain.