LATE SECONDARY hemorrhage following tonsilloadenoidectomy is an important question to the otolaryngologist. In the last decade it has been the subject of much investigation. Possible factors are acetylsalicylic acid intake, vitamin K and D deficiencies, excessive surgical trauma, infection, menstruation, abnormally large blood supply, liver disease, syphilis, pregnancy and blood dyscrasias. Of these, postoperative use of acetylsalicylic acid has been suspected of being the commonest cause. The ground work for this suspicion was laid by Link and associates,¹Rapoport and associates,²Meyer and and Howard,³Shapiro and associates⁴and others who showed that a hypoprothrombinemia could be induced in animals and man by oral or intravenous administration of salicylates. This effect could be prevented or cured by vitamin K. Later Neivert⁵corroborated these laboratory findings and suggested that this effect might be an important cause of late secondary bleeding after tonsillectomy. He reported that a
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Wright et al. (1951) studied this question.