[Complications during and following tonsillectomy]

Not considering the complications due to anesthesia, postoperative hemorrhage is certainly the most frequent complication following tonsillectomy. When injury of a major vessel can be ruled out as the cause of bleeding, a discrete disturbance of hemostasis must be considered. These are mainly thrombocytopathies or a pathologically increased fibrinolysis which were not detected by routine tests and the past history. Preoperatively one should ask for more or less regular use of analgesics containing salicylates which should not be administered postoperatively. The worst attitude is case of a post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage is to do nothing or to rely on non-specific measures hoping that the bleeding will stop anyway.