Comparison of Postoperative Pain in Children with Two Intracapsular Tonsillotomy Techniques and a Standard Tonsillectomy

Objectives: the aim of this study was to compare the duration and severity of postoperative painfor two different tonsillotomy techniques (radiofrequency [rf] and microdebrider [md]) with the standard tonsillectomy. methods: this non-randomised retrospective study, carried out from february 2011 to september 2012, investigated 128 children in two independent centres: heim pál children’s hospital in budapest, hungary, and muscat private hospital in muscat, oman. those undergoing conventional tonsillectomies acted as the control group. one centre tested the md technique (n = 28) while the other centre tested the rf technique (n = 31). results: the pain-free period after the tonsillotomies was similar between the two techniques and ranged up to three days. other indicators of pain resolution, like the use of a single analgesic, reduced night-time waking and the time taken to resume a normal diet, were also similar for the two groups. however, patients benefited significantly from having a tonsillotomy rather than a tonsillectomy. conclusion: the partial resectioning of tonsillar tissue using the md and rf techniques showed promising outcomes for a better postoperative quality of life when compared to a traditional tonsillectomy. in this study, the results of both the md and rf tonsillotomy methods were almost identical in terms of the duration of postoperative pain and recovery time.