Review Article - Otolaryngology Online Journal (2015) Volume 5, Issue 3

The Impact of Antibiotics on Co-morbidities Post Tonsillectomy: A Prospective, Double-Blind, Randomized Study

Background: Adenotonsillectomy is one of the most frequent operations performed in hospitals worldwide. The aim this study is to investigate further the impact of antibiotics on co-morbidities post tonsillectomy.

Methods: This prospective double blinded randomized controlled study was conducted at the department of otolaryngology in a ter-tiary care hospital where 300 tonsillectomy operations are performed each year. All Patients aged 2 years and older who were admitted for elective tonsillectomy from Janu-ary 2012 to December 2012 were included in this study.
Results: From the 128 patients enrolled in the study, 70 belonged to Group A (Intervention) and 50 to Group 2 (Control). There was no sta-tistically significant difference in the post-operative oral intake, fever in the first post op-erative day, degree of stress, secondary bleed-ing, otalgia, fever at home, and day of return to regular diet between the two groups.

Conclusion: Although some studies showed that an-tibiotic use was beneficial in reducing morbidities post tonsillectomy, it is advisable for otolaryngolo-gist to re- evaluate current practice taking into con-sideration bacterial resistance to antibiotics, ad-verse effects and cost benefit ratios. The use of an-tibiotics in post tonsillectomy patients will remain crucial in some selected cases.

Author(s): Amal Al Abdulla, Mohamed Bella, Abdulla Darwish, Ahmed Al Ansari

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