Is Laser Better than Cold Steel (Dissection and Snare) for Tonsillectomy?

Objective: To analyse the surgical outcome of CO laser assisted tonsillectomy with the cold steel (conventional dissection and snare) tonsillectomy.

Materials And Methods: This prospective, non-randomised, single blind study was conducted in 25 cases suffering with recurrent tonsillitis. The left tonsillectomy was performed with CO laser while the right tonsil was excised using cold steel method (conventional dissection and snare method). The surgical time, blood loss and post-operative pain for each method was recorded and analysed.

Results: CO laser tonsillectomy had highly significant less intra-operative blood loss (41.8ml vs. 78.8ml with p = 0.001) and postoperative pain levels on postoperative day 1,3, and 5 ( p value of 0.013, 0.006 and 0.000 respectively) as compared to cold steel method. However; there was no statistically significant difference in operative time between the two techniques (p > 0.05).

Conclusion: CO laser tonsillectomy appeared to be better technique than cold steel in terms of intra-operative haemorrhage and pain.