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Can post-tonsillectomy pain be reduced by topical bupivacaine? Double blind controlled trial

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

N.S. Violaris  and
J.R. Tuffin
N.S. Violaris*
Affiliation:
Plymouth
J.R. Tuffin
Affiliation:
Plymouth
*
N. S. Violaris, F.R.C.S., E.N.T. Registrar, Plymouth General Hospital, Plymouth.
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Abstract

A double blind controlled prospective trial investigated the analgesic effect of topical Bupivacaine in 15 adult patients undergoing bilateral tonsillectomy. Each patient had one tonsillar fossa exposed to Bupivacaine 0.5 per cent solution and the other to normal saline. When visited four to six hours post-operatively, 12 out of 15 patients (80 per cent) stated that the Bupivacaine exposed side to be more uncomfortable than the saline exposed side. On the first post-operative mornning 9 out of 15 patients (60 per cent) confirmed the same. The remaining patients were unable to detect a significant difference and no patient found the Bupivacaine side to be more comfortable.

These results suggest that topical Bupivacaine 0.5 per cent solution has no place in providing post-operative analgesia in adult tonsillectomy.

Information

Type
Main Articles
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 103 , Issue 6 , June 1989 , pp. 592 - 593
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1989

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