Reducing Readmissions Post-tonsillectomy: A Quality Improvement Study on Intravenous Hydration.

Introduction: Dehydration is a potentially preventable complication post-tonsillectomy and can result in an Emergency Department visit and/or readmission. Our objectives were to identify risk factors for dehydration readmissions and develop interventions to prevent them.

Methods: We used retrospective chart reviews to determine if increased intravenous (IV) hydration post-tonsillectomy prevented hospital readmissions for dehydration. All children aged 1-18 years who underwent tonsillectomy between July 1, 2007 and September 30, 2015 were included in this quality improvement study. Using the Pediatric Health Information System database, patients who experienced a readmission for dehydration within 72 hours of surgery were identified and validated with internal data. We analyzed the pre-implementation and post-implementation readmission rates after standardization of increased IV fluids (1.5 times maintenance). An interrupted time series analysis was used to estimate the effects of our hydration initiative.

Results: Of 11,157 patients who underwent tonsillectomy during the study period, 96 (0.9%) met the criteria for readmissions for dehydration. The pre-implementation readmission rate was 1% compared to 0.2% post-implementation, a reduction of 82%.

Conclusions: The hydration initiative was associated with a significant decrease in hospital readmissions. This safe, low-cost, easy-to-implement approach to preventing dehydration post-tonsillectomy could be explored at other institutions.