BACKGROUND Although commonly performed, tonsillectomy is not necessarily a low-risk procedure for litigation. We have reviewed malpractice claims involving fatal and nonfatal injuries following tonsillectomy with an emphasis on anesthesia- and opioid-related claims and their characteristics. METHODS Tonsillectomy-related malpractice claims and jury verdict reports from the United States (US) ...

Respiratory viruses are frequently detected in association with chronic tonsillar hypertrophy in the absence of symptoms of acute respiratory infection (ARI). The present analysis was done in follow-up to a previous clinical study done by this same group. Nasopharyngeal washes (NPWs) were obtained from 83 of 120 individuals at variable times post adenotonsillectomy, in the absence of ARI sympto...

Background: Post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV) following surgical operations requiring general anesthesia are common and distressing. The incidence of PONV may be as high as 70% during the first 24 hrs of tonsillectomy. Objective: This study determines the effects of intraoperative well-hydration on postoperative nausea and vomiting. Methods: 90 ASA I patients with age of 6-12 years sche...

It is not often that ENT topics are the leading stories on the World Health Organization (WHO) website, but with the publication of new prevalence data on hearing loss, to coincide with International Ear Care Day (1 March 2013), this has indeed happened. These new data reveal greatly increased figures for hearing loss. There are an estimated 360 million people with disabling hearing loss worldw...

OBJECTIVE To compare the rates of major complications (postoperative hemorrhage requiring return to the operating room or cauterization in the emergency department and dehydration requiring intravenous fluids or readmission) in a large cohort of children undergoing adenotonsillectomy by three different techniques. STUDY DESIGN Case series with chart review, case-controlled study. SETTING Re...

Tonsillectomy happens to be the commonly performed surgery these days. Like any other surgical procedure this surgical procedure has also undergone tremendous technological changes. One such evolving change happens to be coblation tonsillectomy. Coblation technology is actually an offshoot of radiofrequency surgery. This technique involves passing radiofrequency energy through a conductive medi...

Introduction Smoking has many adverse effects on the oral and pharyngeal mucosa. Outcomes may be developing tonsillar infections and predisposing for post tonsillectomy bleeding (PTB). Objective The objective of our study was to determine whether smokers have more chronic/recurrent tonsillitis indicating for tonsillectomy or develop more PTB episodes. Methods We conducted a retrospective study ...