Efficacy of Platelet‐Rich Plasma in Post‐Tonsillectomy Wound Healing and Pain Management: A Randomized Controlled Study

BACKGROUND: Tonsillectomy is one of the most common surgical procedures in otolaryngology, but the healing process remains unknown in individual patients. Several interventions, including platelet-rich plasma, have been investigated to improve healing and pain control due to their regenerative properties. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of platelet-rich plasma injection during tonsillectomy on postoperative results especially on epithelization stage and postoperative pain. METHOD: A prospective randomized controlled trial was conducted between January 2023 and December 2024, including 19 patients with platelet-rich plasma randomly injected in one of the fossae [treatment group] and normal saline in the other fossa [control group]. The endpoints were the epithelialization stage and pain score on days 1-7 after tonsillectomy. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences between groups in the postoperative epithelization stage. At the treatment sites, grade III wound epithelization was 21.1%, compared with the control site, where none had grade III wound epithelization. The p-values for wound epithelization (0.903) and pain score (0.222) indicate no difference between groups. Both groups' pain scores improved over time (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Intraoperative injection of platelet-rich plasma into the tonsillar beds was effective in stimulating tonsillar wound healing. Because of its properties, the treatment group appeared to have faster wound recovery than the control group. However, the differences were not statistically significant. Further studies with larger sample sizes are warranted to elucidate the potential benefits of platelet-rich plasma in post-tonsillectomy healing.