Utility of the Pediatric Bleeding Questionnaire in Predicting Posttonsillectomy Bleeding

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Surgery
• Hematology
• Clinical Diagnostics

Background:

• Post-tonsillectomy bleeding is a serious complication.
• Preoperative coagulation tests are ineffective in predicting bleeding risk.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the Pediatric Bleeding Questionnaire (PBQ) as a preoperative screening tool for post-tonsillectomy bleeding in children.

Main Methods:

• Prospective single-blinded cohort study involving 272 children undergoing tonsil surgery.
• Caregivers completed the PBQ preoperatively; all children had coagulation tests.

Main Results:

• A PBQ score of ≥2 correlated with increased postoperative bleeding risk (OR, 10.018; P = .046).
• The PBQ showed better predictive ability than coagulation tests (OR, 1.76; P = .279).

Conclusions:

• The PBQ is a valuable tool for identifying children at risk of post-tonsillectomy bleeding.
• A PBQ score of ≥2 offers a higher yield than coagulation studies for risk detection.