A 4-year consecutive study of post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage.

OBJECTIVE: To analyse consecutive material over a period of 4 years concerning the incidence and consequences of post-tonsillectomy haemorrhages (PTH).
DESIGN: Prospective study.
SETTING: University hospital. PARTICIPANTS: All non-oncological cases of tonsillectomy (TE) and adenotonsillectomy (TA) performed at the ENT department at the Karolinska University Hospital between March 2000 and April 2004. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Rate, timing and classification of PTH.
RESULTS: During the study period, 2,813 cases (mean age 13 + or - 12.8 years; SD) of TE and TA were included. The majority (62%) were children aged below 12 years, and 69% were performed as day surgery. In total, 212 (7.5%) patients were readmitted due to PTH, of which 98 (3.4%) presented with ongoing haemorrhage. The rates of primary and secondary bleeding were 1.9 and 5.5%, respectively. The PTH occurred in 0-19 days post-operatively, in a typical twin peak mode around the day of surgery and then days 4-7. No case of serious PTH was noted. Multiple bleedings (2-3 times) occurred in 19 patients. Only a minority (31%) of the single PTH patients required active treatment, surgery in the theatre (35 patients) or diathermy under local anaesthesia in the emergency room (24 patients). However, almost all received systemic haemostatic treatment. Three patients required blood transfusion due to repeated PTH. Of the 114 patients that did not present with an active PTH, only 1 returned to the operating theatre due to later bleeding. Almost half (43%) of the patients with multiple episodes of PTH had also experienced primary bleedings.
CONCLUSIONS: A primary PTH seems to indicate a risk of further episodes of bleedings, and should necessitate extra post-operative observation. Patients with a history of a single self-limiting PTH showed low risk of developing a haemorrhage requiring return to the theatre. Copyright 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel.