Ear, nose, & throat journal
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Despite the otolaryngologist's most diligent efforts to prevent it, hemorrhage is the most common, albeit sporadic, significant complication of tonsillectomy. For this retrospective study of post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage rates, we examined the charts of 430 consecutive tonsillectomy patients who had been operated on by one of two general otolaryngologists at our institution. The two surgeons used the same removal technique (cold dissection and snare), but slightly different methods of hemostasis. ⋯ It appears that one controllable variable in preventing delayed bleeding following tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy might be related to certain details of hemostatic technique. Vasoconstrictors and "field" cauterization might be associated with an increased temporal and spatial application of coagulating current. Although this technique is very effective in preventing primary hemorrhage, it does result in a deeper and more extensive zone of necrosis and the exposure of more and larger vessels when sloughing of the eschar occurs.