title: Post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage: reusable and disposable instruments compared.
abstract: The aim of this study was to determine if the introduction of disposable instruments for tonsillectomy resulted in a significant change in post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage rates. This is a prospective comparative study of haemorrhage rates for cold dissection (CD) tonsillectomy in adults using reusable instruments during 1999-2000 ( n=83) and disposable instruments between August and December 2001 ( n=111). Haemorrhage rates in children with reusable instruments ( n=156) and disposable instruments ( n=115) were also compared. Confidence intervals were established for the differences between study groups along with exact levels of significance. No difference was found in the overall reactionary haemorrhage rate [ P=0.32, Diff 0.9% (95% CI; -3.2 to +0.4)] or secondary haemorrhage rate [ P=1.00, Diff 3.4% (95% CI; -0.09 to +0.01)] between reusable and disposable instruments. The introduction of disposable instruments has not produced a statistically significant increase in post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage rates in our centre.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, DD1 9SY, Dundee, UK.
authors.forename: Mary-Louise
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Montague
authors.forename: Michael S W
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: S S Musheer
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Hussain
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D004209:Disposable Equipment; D017743:Equipment Reuse; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D019106:Postoperative Hemorrhage / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D011336:Probability; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014068:Tonsillectomy / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D016896:Treatment Outcome