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Updated: Jul 15, 2026
CO2-Lasertonsillotomy Under Local Anesthesia in Adults
Published on: November 6, 2019
Electromyography in evaluation of pain after different types of tonsillectomy: prospective randomized study
Michael Vaiman1, Haim Gavrieli, Daniel Krakovski
1Department of Otolaryngology, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, Affiliated to Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Zeriffin, Israel. vaimed@yahoo.com
Background:
Combined surface electromyography (sEMG) and visual analogue scale (VAS) pain assessment was performed on randomly assigned adults following tonsillectomy to research the effect of fibrin sealant (Group 1, n = 25), CO(2) laser (Group 2, n = 18) and electrocoagulation (Group 3, n = 40) on postsurgical pain.
Methods:
Timing and amplitude of sEMG activity of masseter, infrahyoid and submandibular muscles were measured during swallowing simultaneously with VAS assessment and compared to normative database.
Results:
Postsurgical electric activity of masseter and infrahyoid was significantly higher in comparison with normative database. sEMG and VAS data showed that tonsillectomy ended with fibrin sealant caused less pain than laser or electrocoagulation techniques with no correlation between the VAS score and duration of swallows.
Conclusion:
Tonsillectomy affects muscle activity significantly by involving additional muscles (infrahyoid) in swallowing. Combined sEMG and VAS data indicated electrocautery as the most painful, laser as less painful, and fibrin sealant as the least painful technique.
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