Reduction of post-surgical pain by Manual Medicine following tonsillectomy in adults

Abstract

Objective Postoperative pain after tonsillectomy (TE) can usually be treated sufficiently by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). In some patients, however, postoperative pain is more prominent on one side of the neck. Our clinical experience has demonstrated that these patients often show a segmental hypomobility of the upper cervical joints that can be successfully treated by manual medicine (MM). The analgetic effectiveness of this treatment was investigated in a prospective, randomized, placebocontrolled, single-blind study. Material and Methods 52 adults with exceptionally strong (visual analog scale VAS > 4) and/or unilateral pain after TE (between day 1 and 4) were included in this study. Postoperatively (TE) pain scores were immediately evaluated by VAS before (t0) and after (t1) the treatment (MM) as well as 4 hours (t2) and 1 day later (t3). Results Results show a significantly higher reduction in pain in the verum group compared to the placebo group (t1: p = 0.012, t3: p = 0.012, both Bonferroni-adjusted). The difference to t2 was not significant (p = 0.54 Conclusion This study has demonstrated effective pain reduction by manual medicine in adults with exceptionally strong and/or unilateral pain after TE and cervical hypomobolity.