A snapshot of children's postoperative tonsillectomy outcomes at home

Purpose To describe home outcomes of pain, medication use, fluid intake, and emesis 24 hr after tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. The theory of unpleasant symptoms provided a conceptualizing framework. Design and Methods A secondary analysis was conducted. Outcomes for 76 children were recorded on a home diary that included: self-reported pain, analgesic use, fluids ingested, and emesis. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used. Results Children reported moderate pain. Children who received analgesics received less than recommended standards. Only 11% of the children drank the recommended fluids, and 31% of the children vomited at home. Practice Implications Parents need to become partners in pain management. Recommend multimodal discharge teaching and follow-up phone call at home to ensure adequate analgesic administration and fluid intake.