Authors: Joseph Abraham Poonuraparampil, Kusuma R Halemani, Habib M R Karim, Meryl R John, Tuhin Mistry
Background and Aims: Postoperative pain following tonsillectomy is troublesome, and non-pharmacological methods can be a valuable adjunct to reduce the intensity of pain. Cooling can attenuate the damage done to tissues by hot dissection techniques. The study was aimed to assess the effect of fossa cooling on post-tonsillectomy pain. Materials and Methods: Forty patients aged 8-18 years of American Society of physical status I and II scheduled for elective bilateral tonsillectomy with bipolar under general were recruited. After obtaining consent and approval from the institutional ethical committee, they were randomly assigned to one of the two groups. At the end of tonsillectomy, the fossa was packed for 10 minutes using gauze soaked in ice-cold 0.9% saline (5–10 ) in group T (test) and saline at room temperature in group C (control). The postoperative pain scores using Faces Pain Scale-Revised (FPS–R) and sore throat were evaluated at 15 minutes, 1 hour, 6 hours and 12 hours. All the data were analyzed using appropriate statistical tests. P < 0> Results: Pain scores were significantly lower in group T as compared to group C at all time points. (p Conclusion: Cooling of the fossa with ice-cold 0.9% saline after hot dissection tonsillectomy is a useful adjunct in reducing postoperative pain without any significant complications. Keywords: Tonsillectomy, Cryoanalgesia, Postoperative pain, Nonpharmacological therapy.
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