Benchmarking surgery: secondary post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage 1999-2005.
CONCLUSIONS
We found no evidence that the reported increase in otolaryngologic surgery in Norway in recent years has affected post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage rates, and suggest that the latter is a valuable benchmark for the quality of the tonsillectomies and adenotonsillectomies nationwide.


OBJECTIVE
To estimate the incidence of post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage and assess the distribution of hospitalizations for post-hemorrhage bleeding and surgery.


METHODS
This was a national study using data from the Norwegian Patient Registry 1999-2005 with complete information on the incidence of post-hemorrhage hospitalizations, rebleeding surgery, and (adeno)tonsillectomy rates.


RESULTS
One patient per 200 tonsillectomies was hospitalized and 1 per 1000 operated for post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage during the study period. Of the 328 patients hospitalized, 64 (20%) required surgery under general anesthesia. Peak age was 5-9 years; 194 (59%) with post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage were males. The mean rebleeding rate was 0.5% (confidence interval (CI)=0.5-0.6) when secondary rebleeding was estimated as the proportion of all tonsillectomies. While tonsillar surgery was more frequent in the non-adult population, post-tonsillectomy surgery was equally common in the ages below and above 16 years. Seasonal variation in post-tonsillectomy hemorrhages was not found.
Kvaerner
Kari Jorunn
KJ
Department of Otolaryngology, University of Oslo, Norway. k.j.kvarner@medisin.uio.no
D000233:Adenoidectomy / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019985:Benchmarking / Q000592:standards*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway; D019106:Postoperative Hemorrhage / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000601:surgery; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D012042:Registries; D012086:Reoperation; D014068:Tonsillectomy / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult