Post-tonsillectomy pain relief following discharge from hospital

Abstract

Patients undergoing a tonsillectomy are usually discharged from hospital within 24 hours of the procedure. This study aimed to assess the amount of pain one group of patients experienced in the following five days. Twenty-two patients with a mean age of 23 years completed a verbal rating scale for the first five postoperative days on the severity of pain experienced in order to assess: intensity of pain in relation to days postoperatively; the amount and type of pain information given to patients before discharge; and the type and frequency of analgesia taken. The study identified a correlation between pain intensity in relation to postoperative days in patients having undergone tonsillectomy. Almost two-thirds (63%) experienced severe/unbearable pain on Day 2 but by Day 5, this proportion had decreased to one-fifth (21%). The vast majority (84%) of patients experienced pain either most or all of the time, even having taken the recommended analgesia and having received the information on pain relief before discharge [NTResearch 1996; 1: 1, 57-65]