Post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage in a tertiary care teaching hospital

ABSTRACT

Post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage is a surgeon's nightmare. Despite all precautions some cases will always continue to pose a challenge to the ENT surgeons. This is a report of the authors experience in 600 consecutive tonsillectomies performed with the dissection method, over a period of 3 years. The incidence of haemorrhage was 1%, divisible into the two categories of reactionary haemorrhage in 0.33% and secondary haemorrhage in 0.67% of the case. The variables in this case control study comprised of the surgical experience, age and gender of the patients, use of absorabable sutures and postoperative antibiotic