Can post-adenotonsillectomy morbidity be reduced by intravenous 24 h hydration in pediatric patients following adenotonsillectomy?

Objective: To determine the benefit of 24h intravenous hydration for pediatric postoperative adenotonsillectomy patients. Study design: A prospective, randomized controlled clinical study. Methods: The study is consisting of two groups of pediatric patients following adenotonsillectomy performed in a university hospital. One group received 24 h IV hydration at hospital white the other did not have IV hydration. Chi-square and two-tailed unpaired Student's ttests were used to compare the two independent groups. P < 0.05 was accepted as statistically significant. Results: Although the postoperative parameters such as nausea, fever, vomiting, odor, bleeding, otalgia and trismus were not statistically different between the two groups based on chi-square analysis (P > 0.05), a significant pain-relieving effect was seen in hydration group after the second day (P < 0.05). There were no complications associated with intravenous hydration. Conclusion: Results of the current study suggest that 24 h IV hydration can reduce postoperative pain in late postoperative period following adenotonsillectomy in children but does not offer much advantage over without IV hydration therapy based on a number of other parameters. Furthermore, it seems to be cost effective, safe and easy and even these are encouraging for further studies in the future. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.