Surgical techniques in tonsillectomy: A comparative analysis of cold steel dissection and bipolar diathermy.

Objective: To compare intra-operative blood loss, operative time and postoperative pain scores with cold steel dissection technique versus bipolar diathermy technique in tonsillectomy at our institution. Method: Seventy-four patients aged 5–35 years of either gender planned for elective tonsillectomy under general anaesthesia were included. Patients were divided into two groups. In group C, the cold steel dissection technique was used while in group D bipolar diathermy technique was used for tonsillectomy. All patients were evaluated for intra-operative blood loss, operative time and post-operative pain. Data was entered and analyzed in SPSS version 20.0. P- A value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The mean operating time was 28.16 ± 0.27 minutes in Group C and 21.4 ± 2.34 minutes in Group D. Intra-operative blood loss was 90.76 ± 2.02 ml in Group C and 17.38 ± 3.1 57 ml group-D. The post-operative pain score was 6.89 ± 0.32 in group C and 6.92 ± 0.27 in group D. Conclusion: The bipolar diathermy technique is superior to the cold steel dissection technique in terms of intra-operative bleeding and operative time but at the expense of a higher post-operative pain score