A comprehensive analysis of all patients (n = 509) undergoing tonsillectomy during 1 year in a large centralised service

Pan‐Scotland tonsillectomy outcomes: A national cross‐sectional study

“…The subset analysis to allow data validation identified that, when utilising ISD records, 566 patients underwent tonsillectomy in NHS GGC between 1 October 2015 and 30 September 2016. This is in comparison with the previous study, where 526 individuals were identified who underwent a tonsillectomy during this period 7 . From the ISD data, a 30‐day re‐admission rate of 22.7% and a 30‐day return to theatre rate of 6.5% were identified.…”

“…2 The overall re-admission rate of 15.5% and the return to theatre rate of 3.1% also represent some of the highest rates in the literature. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Furthermore, across the major Health Boards in Scotland, the tonsillar haemorrhage and return to theatre rates are of a similar pattern. patients with an infective indication for their tonsillectomy, and older patients, are at increased risk of post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage.…”

“…A subset analysis was conducted using the ISD database in the same manner as above, to identify patients who underwent tonsillectomy in NHS Greater, Glasgow & Clyde (NHS GGC) between 1 October 2015 and 30 September 2016. This allowed direct comparison with the patient population assessed during our previous study, 7 allowing validation of the ISD data.…”

“…This is in comparison with the previous study, where 526 individuals were identified who underwent a tonsillectomy during this period. 7 From the ISD data, a 30-day re-admission rate of 22.7% and a 30-day return to theatre rate of 6.5% were identified. This compares favourably with the NHS GGC data, which identified a post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage rate of 20.4% and a return to theatre rate of 5.3%, both within 1.5% of the ISD analysis.…”

“…[4][5][6] Furthermore, a recent study conducted in the authors' Otolaryngology Department, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, involving comprehensive retrospective data collection of all adult tonsillectomies performed in a year, identified the highest post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage rates (20.4%) and return to theatre rates (5.3%) in the literature. 7 The aim of this study was to identify whether the high rates of post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage and return to theatre identified in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde were similar at a national level, by interrogation of the Pan-Scotland Information Services Division (ISD) dataset.…”