Secondary tonsillar hemorrhage requiring surgical intervention: Analysis of 1429 tonsillectomy cases on single surgeon experience

Abstract

Objective: Determination of risk factors affecting secondary tonsillar hemorrhage of the requiring surgical intervention. Material and Method: 1429 tonsillectomy cases performed with three different dissection techniques (dissection and snare, bipolar and monopolar dissection) by a single surgeon were examined retrospectively.  Age, sex, surgical knowledge, indications and postoperative tonsillar hemorrhage day of the patients were recorded. Patients who were operated on for hemorrhage were evaluated statistically in terms of technique used, age, sex and indications. Findings: A total of 25 cases of a secondary hemorrhage cases requiring surgical intervention were detected. The relationship between age and bleeding was statistically significant (p=0.003). Hemorrhage frequency requiring surgical intervention was significantly higher in patients with recurrent tonsillitis than in patients with tonsillar hypertrophy (p = 0.001). 19 of the 25 patients who were operated on for hemorrhage were in the group of tonsillectomy patients due to recurrent tonsillitis. There was no meaningful relationship in terms of sex. The hemorrhage rate in the dissection and snare technique was 1.74% (12 patients), the hemorrhage rate in bipolar dissection was 2.78% (9 patients), and the monopolar dissection- hemorrhage rate was 0.96% (4 patients). There was no statistically significant difference between the results (p = 0.170). It was determined that the hemorrhage required surgery at most was between 6th and 10th days. Conclusion: While there was no significant relationship between the incidence of secondary tonsillar hemorrhage requiring surgery and gender and dissection techniques, it has been observed that the risk was increased in patients operated due to recurrent tonsillitis and older age group.