Assessment of postoperative pain scores in thermal welding and conventional tonsillectomy techniques: A randomized control study

ObjectivesTo assess postoperative pain of the thermal welding system tonsillectomy compared to the conventional tonsillectomy.Design342 Patients aged from 8 through 39 years were enrolled in a randomized prospective controlled study. Extracapsular tonsillectomy with thermal welding system and conventional system was performed randomly in each patient. Patients with chronic tonsillitis were included. Patients undergoing adenoidectomy, suspected or confirmed tonsillar malignancy or any other procedure together with tonsillectomy were excluded from this study. Postoperative pain was measured by means of Faces Pain Scale and Numerical Pain Score for each patient in three occasions (6–8 h post operative, 24 h and 6 days later during the first postoperative visit) for each side.ResultsThere was a statistically significant difference between the pain scores of both procedures, in all three occasions (P > 0.001). Patients treated with Thermal welding had the least postoperative pain score regardless of the occasion. Patients treated with the conventional technique had a significantly higher postoperative pain score in all three occasions.ConclusionsThermal welding tonsillectomy is superior to the conventional technique, with less postoperative pain scores, compared to the conventional technique.