Efficacy of Bupivacaine Infiltration in Post Tonsillectomy Pain Relief

Background: Tonsillectomy is a common surgical procedure required to prevent recurrent infection, inflammation and related distress to the patients. Intervention in this highly vascularized area results in inflammatory responses and subsequent pain. Due to inadequate management 30-70% patients suffer from post-operative pain. Post tonsillectomy pain has its impact on analgesic consumption, hospital stay and return to normal activity. Methodology: This randomized control trial study design is a prospective randomized controlled including convenience sample of 32 patients of both genders, aged 4-30 years undergoing tonsillectomy.Tonsillectomy was performed by standard dissection method after giving general anesthesia to the patients. After completing the tonsillectomy on right side, surgeon infiltrated 6ml of 0.25 % bupivacaine in the tonsillar fossa on the right side. The surgeon did not infiltrate into the left side being observed as control. Postoperative pain score was recorded by asking patients on a VAS graded 1-10 scale (0= no pain and 10= maximum pain) after half an hour in recovery, 2 hours, 4 hours and 6 hours after the operation. Results: The mean age of the study patients was 14.08±7.32 years which included 20 (62.5%) females and 12(37.5%) males. The mean of duration of operation was 42.03±14.75 minutes. There was statistically significant difference between pain scores on VAS in infiltrated bupivacaine (right side) and control (left side) after ½, 2,4 and 6 hours respectively. Conclusion: Infiltration of 0.25% bupivacaine significantly reduces post tonsillectomy pain.