Child ; Humans ; Polysomnography ; Sleep Apnea Syndromes ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Tonsillectomy ; methods

PURPOSE: This study aimed at developing a critical pathway for the children undergoing tonsillectomy. METHOD: Six steps of critical pathway developmental process were used based on the literature review. The researcher reviewed 70 medical records of children who had tonsillectomy between January 4th and April 30th, 2001. They received 76 kinds of medical services during six average hospitalization days. Five of them had post-operative bleeding problem. A professional group carefully screened 67 out of 76 medical services and adopted them with five average hospitalization days as the critical pathway framework. This framework was applied to 34 children undergoing tonsillectomy during June 1st through August 21st, 2001. RESULT: The children who used the pathways with five average hospitalization days had post-operative bleeding problem. In other words, the group who utilized the critical pathway resulted in better outcomes compared to the group who did not use the tool. CONCLUSION: Since the critical pathway is an efficient care management tool, nurses need to participate more positively participate in developing and utilizing the tool for other health problem.
Child ; Critical Pathways* ; Hemorrhage ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Methods ; Tonsillectomy*

Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Tonsillectomy ; instrumentation ; methods ; Ultrasonic Therapy ; instrumentation

The feasibility of partial tonsillectomy was reviewed. Compared with total tonsillectomy, partial tonsillectomy has the advantages of less postoperative pain, lower postoperative bleeding rate and faster recovery. Partial tonsillectomy has a potential for tonsil regrowth and its efficacy in treating sleep-disordered breathing in children is still controversial.
Humans ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive ; surgery ; Tonsillectomy ; adverse effects ; methods

Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Palatine Tonsil ; surgery ; Tonsillectomy ; instrumentation ; methods

OBJECTIVETo investigate the advantages and disadvantages of ultracision-harmonic scalpel assisted tonsillectomy by compared with conventional tonsillectomy.

METHODSEighty-eight patients were randomly divided into ultrasonic scalpel group (group A, 42 cases) and control group (group B, 46 cases). The tonsillectomy in group A was performed with ultracision-harmonic scalpel, and in group B, the tonsillectomy was performed by routine method. The surgical time (complete removal of tonsils), blood loss, and postoperative sore throat situation were recorded.

RESULTSSurgical time in group A [(14.7 ± 4.0) min] was shorter than that in group B [(28.9 ± 7.6) min], t = -10.691, P < 0.05. Blood loss in group A [(3.1 ± 1.1) ml] was less than that in group B [(19.0 ± 5.2) ml], t = -19.544, P < 0.05. Postoperative sore throat was less painful in group A than that in group B in 10 hours after surgery, but much painful than group B 3 days after surgery and most patients lasted longer. There were statistical differences (P < 0.05). The average peel off time for the tunica albuginea was 8 days after the operation by using traditional method, by compared with the ultrasonic scalpel method, average time was 11 days, the difference showed statistical significance (t = 5.115, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSCompared with traditional tonsillectomy, ultracision-harmonic scalpel tonsillectomy had shorter operative time, less blood loss and so on, but the sore throat symptoms persisted longer. In addition, the tunica albuginea peeled off later, so avoidance of secondary bleeding caused by improper diet was mandatory.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Tonsillectomy ; methods ; Tonsillitis ; surgery ; Treatment Outcome ; Ultrasonic Therapy ; Young Adult

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of informational intervention on postoperative pain following tonsillectomy in children. This study was performed on 30 children, aged 5-15 years, undergoing tonsillectomy and their parents by providing informational intervention with colored figure; operation procedure and information. Pain assessment was done by Pain Questionnaire. The results from this study were as follows : 1. Children in experimental group with mean 16.07 had lower pain scores than control group with mean 14.87 at 4th hours after operation(p < 0.05). It showed "significant difference" and first hypothesis was adopted. 2. Children in experimental group with mean 20.60 had lower pain scores than control group with mean 17.27 at 8th hours after operation(p < 0.05). It showed "significant difference" and second hypothesis was adopted. 3. Children in experimental group with mean 28.80 had lower pain scores than control group with mean 25.70 at 24th hours after operation(p < 0.05). It showed "significant difference" and third hypothesis was adopted. 4. When we analyzed the time difference and difference between two groups simultaneously by repeated measure ANOVA, the significant difference was not found. And so "the experiential group with operation-related information will show the lower pain sense than the control group just as the time flows after operation", fourth hypothesis was rejected. Generally, it was found that providing information about operation to children and their parents reduced effectively postoperative pain in children, but in clinical settings there are minimum preoperative information-providing because of insufficient time and inconvenience although nursing staffs and patients know its needs. Conclusionally providing preoperative information should help children and their parents cope with Pre, Peri and Post operative events effectively.
Adenoidectomy ; Analysis of Variance ; Child* ; Humans ; Methods ; Nursing Staff ; Pain Measurement ; Pain, Postoperative* ; Parents ; Tonsillectomy* ; Child Health

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Electrosurgery ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Tonsillectomy ; instrumentation ; methods

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Altough tonsillectomy is one of the most common otolaryngological procedures, a highly reliable and effective method for reducing postoperative pain has yet to be identified. This study evaluated the efficacy of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) mouthwash on postoperative pain in tonsillectomy patients. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: A total of 64 patients who underwent tonsillectomy were randomly assigned to one of two groups (32 patients each). One group received the NSAID mouthwash and the other a distilled water mouthwash. Postoperative pain in the two groups was compared by assessing pain severity 1-9 days postoperatively using a visual analog scale. RESULTS: Compared to the distilled water mouthwash group, patients using the NSAID mouthwash showed a statistically significant decrease in postoperative pain over the first 9 postoperative days. CONCLUSION: A NSAID mouthwash may be a simple and effective method for controlling post-tonsillectomy pain when administered in conjunction with routine medications.
Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal ; Humans ; Methods ; Mouthwashes ; Pain, Postoperative ; Tonsillectomy ; Visual Analog Scale ; Water

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Tonsillectomy remains to be an ordinary operative process in otorhinolaryngology. The aim of this study is to evaluate four current tonsillectomy techniques, conventional dissection, electrocautery tonsillectomy, laser tonsillectomy, coblation tonsillectomy, comparing operation time, postoperative pain, postoperative otalgia and postoperative hemorrhage. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: From March 2012 to December 2012, a total of 61 patients between the ages of 10 years and 58 years scheduled for tonsillectomy were randomly assigned to conventional dissection, electrocautery, laser, coblation groups. All tonsillectomies were performed under general anesthesia. RESULTS: Coblation tonsillectomy technique produced the shortest total surgical time, averaging 19.1 minutes. Electrocautery was the most painful method and postoperative pain was less in laser and coblation, but there was no statistically significant difference between the two. The incidence of primary and secondary hemorrhage was statistically insignificant between the surgical methods. CONCLUSION: This study found that coblation tonsillectomy led to statistically shorter surgical time. However, the four techniques showed no statistically significant difference in the postoperative pain, postoperative otalgia and hemorrhage. Coblation tonsillectomy and laser tonsillectomy are found to be both useful in patients who are sensitive to postoperative pain.
Anesthesia, General ; Earache ; Electrocoagulation* ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Incidence ; Methods ; Operative Time ; Otolaryngology ; Pain, Postoperative ; Postoperative Hemorrhage ; Tonsillectomy*