Comparison of Early versus Interval Tonsillectomy in Cases of Peritonsillar Abscess

Abstract

Objective: To compare early versus interval tonsillectomy in cases of peritonsillar abscess.Study Design: Comparative study.Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out at ENT Department of Combined Military Hospital, Mardan from January 2017 to January 2018.Materials and Methods: A total 50 patients were selected from ENT outpatient department. All the cases were randomly divided into two groups of 25 each. Group A underwent early tonsillectomy after initial incision and drainage, Group B underwent interval tonsillectomy after 6 weeks. Both the groups were compared in terms of perioperative blood loss, operation time, ease of dissection and postoperative complications including pain and hemorrhage. Tonsillectomy was done with bipolar cautery in all the cases.Results: The mean age was 30.22 + 8.25. Out of 50 patients, 42 (84%) were males and 8 (16%) were females. The mean operative time of surgery in group A (early tonsillectomy) was 45.04+5.78 minutes compared to 32.72+4.37 minutes for group B (interval tonsillectomy (p=0.00). Mean post-operative pain in group A was 3.68+2.12 compared to group B where mean score was 3.36+1.93 (p=0.579). There were 3 cases of mild perioperative blood loss, 19 cases of moderate and 3 of severe perioperative blood loss in group A. There were 18 cases of mild perioperative blood loss, 7 cases of moderate and no case of severe perioperative blood loss in group B (p=0.00). Dissection was found to be significantly easier in group B (interval tonsillectomy). There were 7 cases of post-op secondary hemorrhage in group A compared to 3 in group B (p=0.289). All these cases of secondary hemorrhage were managed conservatively.Conclusion: Interval tonsillectomy is a safer procedure as compared to early tonsillectomy in terms of perioperative blood loss, operative time, dissection with almost similar post-op pain and similar risk of post tonsillectomy hemorrhage. How to cite this: Khan MA, Ahmed A, Khan M.  Comparison of Early versus Interval Tonsillectomy in Cases of Peritonsillar Abscess. Life and Science. 2020; 1(1): 24-28.  doi: https://doi.org/10.37185/L&S.1.1.13