The surgical arrest of post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage: hospital episode statistics

Introduction: In the consent of patients for tonsillectomy, the risk of returning to theatre for control of postoperative bleeding may be determined from data provided on Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) provided by the Department of Health website. Methods: HES data for England from 1998-2002 were used. The numbers of tonsillectomies and of surgical arrest of post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage were considered for children and adults. Results: Of 220,497 tonsillectomies performed over the 4-year period, 1804 (0.82%) returned to theatre for control of bleeding. However, this was 3.87 times more likely in adults than children (P<0.0001). Conclusion: Adults are nearly four times more likely than children to require surgery for the arrest of post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage.