Ketamine in post-tonsillectomy pain

OBJECTIVE: There has yet been no ideal method for postoperative analgesia in children. Ketamine demonstrates a potent analgesic effect by central blockage of perception of pain with sub-anesthetic doses. Preoperative intramuscular administration of ketamine for sedation decreases the pain during swallowing after tonsillectomy, while it provides long-term analgesia when applied around the incision. The aim of this study is to compare the effectiveness of ketamine administered to the tonsillar region following tonsillectomy for postoperative pain management. METHODS: After obtaining consent from the local ethics committee and the parents, 60 patients from the ASA groups I and II, between 3 and 7 years of age, planned for adenotonsillectomy as outpatients, were included in the study. Subjects were randomly assigned to two equal groups and 2ml 0.9% saline for group S, and 0.5mgkg(-1) ketamine and saline 2ml in volume for group K were administered into the tonsillar region. All subjects were monitored in a standard manner and SpO(2), systolic arterial pressure (SAP), and cardiac pulse rates were recorded in 5min intervals. The CHEOPS and Wilson sedation scale were used to evaluate pain levels and sedative condition, respectively. Nausea and vomiting scores of the subjects were also noted. The time of the first analgesic administration and the total amount of analgesics in an 8-hour period were recorded. Student-T and Chi-Square tests were used for the statistical evaluation of the data and a p value of <0.05 was accepted as significant. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between groups according to age, sex, weight, intermittent SAP and cardiac pulse rates. However, the CHEOPS value, the first analgesic need and the total amount of analgesic need were in favor of ketamine (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In previous studies, no significant differences were demonstrated in pre-emptive analgesia with ketamine, magnesium, morphine, and clonidine. The dose of ketamin and the volume used in this study caused no sedation or nausea and provided a high level of analgesia. Ketamine infiltration into the tonsillar region after tonsillectomy was found to be easy and effective.     

Evidence of an association between mannose binding lectin codon 54 polymorphism and adenoidectomy and/or tonsillectomy in children

Mannose binding lectin (MBL) is a calcium-dependent lectin that plays an important role innate immunity by activating the complement pathway. There have been a number of studies describing an association between the MBL genotype and disease susceptibility. MBL deficiency has been described as one of the factors leading to a number of infections in children with recurrent upper respiratory tractus infections (URTI). We hypothesized that MBL deficiency may be associated with recurrent URTI, which requires adenoidectomy and/or adenotonsillectomy. In this study to clarify this hypothesis we investigated whether there may be an association between two low producing MBL variants and adenoidectomy and/or tonsillectomy due to recurrent URTI in children. Blood samples were collected, adenoidectomy and/or tonsillectomy due to recurrent URTI and 50 controls (mean age 80.53 +/- 32.62 months). In all patients and controls codon 54 and codon 57 polymorphisms of the MBL gene were analyzed. None of the subjects from the patient group and control group carried codon 57 polymorphism of the MBL gene. The frequency of low-level MBL genotypes (AB and BB) for codon 54 polymorphism in the patient group was found to be significantly higher compared to the control subjects (55.7% versus 14%) (p<0.001). This study shows that the presence of low-level MBL alleles is associated with adenoidectomy and/or tonsillectomy caused by recurrent URTI in children.     

OSAS in Down syndrome: T&A versus T&A plus lateral pharyngoplasty

OBJECTIVE: Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS) is common in children with Down syndrome (DS). Adenotonsillectomy (T&A) has traditionally been the initial surgical treatment. More aggressive surgery has also been recommended. Previous studies have used parental reporting and not objective data to assess treatment outcomes. Polysomnography (PSG) is used to objectively evaluate the results of T&A versus T&A plus lateral pharyngoplasty in the initial treatment of OSAS in children with DS. METHODS: This is a retrospective study of children with OSAS and DS. Group 1 consisted of 21 children with DS who underwent T&A. Group 2 consisted of 16 children of similar age who had T&A plus lateral pharyngoplasty as initial surgical treatment. Post-operative PSG's were available for all patients. Apnea/hypopnea index (AHI), presence of hypoxemia and hypercarbia, and arousal index were measured and compared. RESULTS: In group 1, after T&A, 48% continued to have an elevated AHI. If hypercarbia and hypoxemia are included in the result analysis, 67% continued to have abnormal PSG's after their surgery. In group 2, 63% had an elevated AHI post-operatively. When hypercarbia and hypoxemia are included in the analysis, 75% continued to have abnormal PSG's after surgery. There was no statistically significant difference in the outcome of the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric patients with OSAS and DS may show improvement after T&A, however only about one third will have a normal post-operative sleep study. Adding a lateral pharyngoplasty does not improve these results. Further study with objective outcome data is needed to determine a better first line surgical treatment for these patients.     

A telephone audit in parallel with the UK national tonsillectomy audit to investigate re-admission as a measure of secondary haemorrhage rate

OBJECTIVES: An audit to run in parallel with the remaining 5 months (at the time of conception) of the national tonsillectomy audit to examine the accuracy of re-admission following bleeding as a measure of secondary haemorrhage rate. METHODS: A retrospective, case series audit of all patients undergoing tonsillectomy between 29th April and 1st October 2004 at Frimley Park Hospital a UK District General Hospital. One hundred and twenty-nine patients (adults and children) undergoing tonsillectomy were contacted by telephone 2 weeks after surgery. The main outcome measures were reported bleeding and re-admission. We reviewed all studies reported in the literature investigating secondary haemorrhage rate in the community. RESULTS: This study demonstrated 19% (n=24) of patients experienced bleeding post-operatively. Ten per cent (n=13) returned to hospital for advice and were admitted. The literature review shows the variability of the proportion of patients with bleeding that are re-admitted is 33.3 standard deviations. CONCLUSIONS: There are widely different regional re-admission rates for post-tonsillectomy secondary haemorrhage. Re-admission is an unreliable measure of secondary haemorrhage. Change of practise based on conclusions drawn from re-admission rates are unsound.     

低温等离子射频刀扁桃体切除术治疗慢性扁桃体炎临床疗效观察

目的:探讨低温等离子射频刀扁桃体切除术治疗慢性扁桃体炎的临床疗效及安全性.方法:选取符合标准的患者80例,随机分为观察组和对照组各40例,观察组应用低温等离子射频刀扁桃体切除术,对照组应用传统扁桃体切除术,观察比较二者的手术治疗情况.结果:两组患者均顺利完成扁桃体摘除术,术后无明显出血.观察组患者在手术时间、术中出血量和术后进食时间均优于对照组,差异存在统计学意义(P＜0.05);二者白膜脱落时间相似,差异无统计学意义(P＞0.05).观察组患者术后1d、3d、5d和7d,VAS评分均低于对照组,差异存在统计学意义(P＜0.05).观察组总有效率100％,对照组总有效率95％,差异无统计学意义(P＞0.05).治疗后,两组患者症状和体征总积分均降低,与本组治疗前比较,差异存在统计学意义(P＜0.05);二者症状和体征总积分下降幅度相似,差异无统计学意义(P＞0.05).结论:低温等离子射频刀扁桃体切除术具有手术时间短、术中出血少和术后疼痛轻等优点,患者术后恢复快、安全性高,值得临床应用开展.     

扁桃体切除术在缓解自身免疫性疾病中的研究进展

扁桃体切除术在一些自身免疫性疾病的治疗中被证实具有较好的临床效果,扁桃体切除术有望成为部分自身免疫性疾病综合诊治中的补充治疗手段。目前对于扁桃体切除术在这些疾病中的治疗机制已有较多的研究报道,但缺乏系统的归纳总结,因此本文对扁桃体切除术在几种自身免疫性疾病中的临床实践有效性以及相关机制进行综述回顾。     

双极电凝镊在扁桃体摘除术中的应用

目的：通过比较采用双极电凝镊与传统的剥离法实施扁桃体摘除的手术效果,探讨双极电凝镊在扁桃体摘除术中的应用效果。方法：选取行扁桃体手术摘除的患者100例,前瞻性地分为两组,比较手术时间、术中出血量及术后患者并发症、疼痛程度及恢复时间。结果：用双极电凝镊行扁桃体摘除与普通法扁桃体摘除相比,手术时间短,术中出血少,术后并发症发生率低,患者痛苦轻。结论：采用双极电凝镊扁桃体摘除手术效果明显优于普通剥离法扁桃体摘除,两方法术后恢复时间无统计学差别。     

扁桃体下极被膜保留的扁桃体切除术在儿童阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停治疗中的应用

目的 观察扁桃体下极被膜保留的扁桃体切除术在儿童阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停(OSA)中的可行性及优势。方法 将2018年8月—2019年12月行扁桃体下极被膜保留扁桃体切除术(91例)与2017年1月—2018年7月行传统扁桃体切除术(100例)治疗儿童OSA患者的临床资料进行回顾性对比分析。比较两组手术时间、术中出血、术后疼痛评分、术后并发症、随访1年的情况。结果 两组手术时间及术中出血无明显差异,下极被膜保留组术后第1天、第3天疼痛评分显著低于传统手术组(P＜0.05)。术后出血率传统手术组(7/100,7％)高于下极被膜保留组(2/91,2.19％)(P＜0.05)。术后随访1年,两组均未出现局部感染及再发扁桃体肥大情况。结论 扁桃体下极被膜保留的扁桃体切除术是儿童OSA的一种安全可行的手术方式,可以有效降低术后出血风险及术后疼痛。