Comparison of the Effect of Dietary Restriction and Free Diet on Postoperative Bleeding After Tonsillectomy

Abstract

Background and Objectives There have been several studies on the factors affecting posttonsillectomy bleeding; however, investigations on the relationship between postoperative bleeding and diet are insufficient. Different countries have different types of food, and while there have been studies on the effects of diet in other countries, no such studies have been reported in Korea. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the relationship between Korean diet and postoperative bleeding after tonsillectomy.Subjects and Method To compare the postoperative bleeding outcomes, patients who underwent tonsillectomy by a single surgeon between January 2017 and 2020 were divided into those who had a diet restriction after surgery and those who had a free diet. Postoperative bleeding outcomes were divided according to the degree of intervention for hemostasis and compared.Results The study included 115 and 124 patients in the diet-restricted group and free-diet group, respectively. There were no statistical differences between the two groups in terms of gender, age, presence of snoring and frequent tonsillitis, and surgical method. Bleeding occurred in four patients in the diet-restricted group and three patients in the free-diet group. There was no statistical difference between the two groups in the frequency and severity of postoperative bleeding.Conclusion Since dietary restriction after tonsillectomy was not helpful to prevent postoperative bleeding, a free and sufficient diet after surgery may prove to be better.