Acetylsalicylic Acid, a Probable Cause for Secondary Post-Tonsillectomy Hemorrhage: A Preliminary Report

The post-tonsillectomy healing process is characterized by a reactive inflammation with healing by second intention. As a clinical complication, bleeding, sometimes of a dangerous nature, may occur. This postoperative hemorrhage is classified as either primary or secondary. The former, rarely encountered, arises within the first twenty-four hours after operation and originates from a small spurting artery or a small oozing vein; the latter occurs three to ten days postoperatively and is of the parenchymatous type. Thus, apart from those infrequent cases complicated by primary hemorrhage, two types of postoperative course may be observed: (a) the normal process of healing with reactive inflammation of a nonhemorrhagic nature, in which secondary hemorrhage does not occur, and (b) the abnormal process, exhibiting a characteristic hemorrhagic inflammation of the soft palate and often complicated by secondary hemorrhage. The nature of the postoperative course is not influenced by the surgical method of removal, the type