Thermal injury in tonsils and its relation to postoperative pain—a histopathological and clinical study
- Resource Type
- article
- Authors
- Mohammad Obeidat; Sónia Martins; Ayat Aloqaily; Margarida Santos; Fátima Carneiro; Jorge Spratley
- Source
- The Egyptian Journal of Otolaryngology, Vol 37, Iss 1, Pp 1-6 (2021)
- Subject
- Intracapsular tonsillectomy
Pediatric tonsillectomy
Monopolar electrocautery
Thermal injury
Postoperative pain
Otorhinolaryngology
RF1-547
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1012-5574
2090-8539
56729332
Abstract Objectives The aim of this study was to compare thermal injury and depth of necrosis of using different monopolar power settings in partial tonsillectomy and correlate the results with the postoperative pain score. Results The study included a total of 15 patients with mean of age of 5.7 ± 2.57 years. The mean depth of injury was significantly higher for the 25 W side (0.973 ± 0.613) versus the 15 W side (0.553 ± 0.218) (p = 0.023). The postoperative pain score showed no significant differences between both sides. Conclusion The histopathologic depth of thermal injury is significantly higher with the 25 W monopolar microdissection in comparison to the 15 W; however, it does not seem to correlate with the postoperative pain level. Apparently, power settings of 25 W can be safely used for pediatric intracapsular tonsillectomies, without added postoperative morbidity despite the deeper tissue injury observed in the tonsil.