Diathermy and compression were associated with similar post-tonsillectomy morbidity.

The aim of this prospective study was to establish a measure of short-term quality of treatment after tonsillectomy/adenotonsillectomy. One hundred and thirty-four questionnaires, returned after 14 days, from 41 children and 93 adults were analysed. Forty-seven per cent had one or more consultations with health-care professionals. Eighty-three consultations by telephone and 33 consultations in person were made. Two recent studies reported higher consultation rates in person to doctors compared to this study. The predominant reason for consulting health-care professionals was pain. Maximum pain scores were significantly higher among those with consultations vs. no consultations (p = 0.0001). Additionally, the intensity as well as the duration of maximal pain increased with the number of contacts per patient (p = 0.0001, p = 0.0045). Sixty-four per cent felt relieved after consultation by telephone and 83 per cent felt relieved after consultation in person. The present study suggests consultation rate as a parameter of quality of treatment and quality of information.

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Rungby JA, Rømeling F, Borum P. Methods of haemostasis in tonsillectomy assessed by pain scores and consultation rates. Acta Otolaryngol 2000; Suppl 543: 209-214.Objecti6es: To compare four methods of haemostasis after tonsillectomy assessed by pain scores and consultation rates. Study design and methods: A prospective study. The method of sole compression of the tonsillar fossae with gauze tampons was compared to ligation, bipolar diathermy and ligation/diathermy in combination. Results: Highly significantly lower pain scores after discharge were found in the compression group compared to the other three groups (pB 0.025). The consultation rate in person after discharge of the compression group was significantly lower than in the diathermy group (p B0.01) and the ligation/diathermy group (p B0.05). Conclusion: Sole compression was associated with considerably less morbidity and no higher risk of postoperative haemorrhage. Sole compression should therefore be preferred in tonsillectomy whenever the surgeon considers it to be justified.

A patient passed 11 urate calculi after palliative orchidectomy for advanced prostatic cancer, and there was a simultaneous rise in urinary urate excretion. We believe that this rise could be the result of increased purine metabolism from lysis of tumour cells. To our knowledge this has not previously been reported.