Post-Tonsillectomy Bleeding and Fatality: Is it Only Bad Luck? (AMW)
2021 AAO-HNSF Annual Meeting & OTO Experience
Death from bleeding after tonsillectomy is hopefully a rare event but every case is a real tragedy obviously for the family but also for the surgeon. For a long time, it has been thought that post tonsillectomy severe bleeding and death is not related to surgical technique, however; important publications during the last 15 years change this understanding. This is the topic of this course: Can we avoid severe bleeding and mortality after tonsillectomy. This course will present the main research and published papers which associate surgical technique of tonsillectomy (cold and hot techniques) with the risk of post tonsillectomy. Possible complications monopolar, bipolar, coblation, CO2 laser and others will be discussed according to the literature. Every surgeon performing tonsillectomy should be aware of 4 larges prospective studies which will be presented in the course. In addition, the course will attempt to explain the causes of mortality by bleeding after tonsillectomy based on the literature and the experience of the senior instructor after participation in a few investing committees of the Israeli ministry of health after such cases. According to this literature, guidelines were published in Israel (under the responsibility of the senior presenter). These guidelines change the practice of most otolaryngologist in Israel and contributes to lower morbidity and mortality after tonsillectomy. We believe this course has the potential to help every surgeon performing tonsillectomy understand possible dangers of hot techniques and may contribute to change surgical habits.
Credits
CME:1.0, MOC:1.0