Tonsillectomy in adults: Analysis of indications and complications

Tonsillectomy is one of the surgical techniques most practiced by otolaryngologists, and despite being a relatively simple technique; it presents a considerable percentage of complications, such as postoperative bleeding. The aim of this study is to describe the surgical indications and most frequent complications, analyze whether surgical suture of the tonsillar pillars has an influence on bleeding, and study the data of hospital stay and its importance for the control of complications.

A retrospective study of 326 patients who underwent a tonsillectomy in our Department of Otolaryngology from 2006 to 2014 was conducted. The obtained data were statistically analyzed using the Excel and SPSS 21.0 programs.

The most frequent indication was recurrent tonsillitis, with a 74.85% (244) occurrence, and the most recurrent complication was bleeding, in 5.21% (17) of the tonsillectomies, requiring surgical revision 13 of the 17 patients. No statistically significant differences in the risk of bleeding were observed in patients in whom tonsil pillars were sutured comparing to those that were not. No statistically significant differences were detected associating surgical indication and oropharyngeal post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage. All operated patients were admitted, with a postoperative average hospital stay of 2.17 days, gaining a quick and effective control of the immediate complications.

Bleeding is the most common and important complication. No statistically significant association between bleeding and tonsil pillar suture or surgical indication was found. Tonsillectomy was not set as outpatient surgery at the time.