Abstract:
Objectives: To determine if varying fasting times play a role in post-tonsillectomy paediatric patient outcomes
Design: Quasi-experimental, prospective, surgeon-blinded, single-centre study
Settings: <blinded for review> in Sydney, Australia
Participants: Children 4—12 years old(n=180), admitted for tonsillectomy or adenotonsillectomy. Randomised into Hospital Group(HG) and Anaesthetic Group(AG).
Main outcome measures: The primary measure is the difference in patient pain and return to normal function as measured by the Parents’ Postoperative Pain Measure(PPPM). The secondary measures are differences in adverse complications such as postoperative analgesia requirements, nausea and vomiting.
Results: AG had significantly reduced Day 0 PPPM score compared to HG. No significant difference in medium term (Day 1-8) PPPM scores or secondary outcomes.
Conclusions: Shorter fasting times correlate with improved Day 0 post-operative pain scores.
Keywords: fasting, tonsils, perioperative, pain, adenoids, anaesthesia, evidence based medicine, outcomes