Intraoperative use of analgesics in tonsillar fossa and postoperative evaluation with visual analogue scale scores—A prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial

Introduction Posttonsillectomy pain results in significant morbidity to the patients. There is a disagreement in the literature regarding the use of local anesthetics during tonsillectomy. The aim of this placebo-controlled, double-blind study is to evaluate the effect of peritonsillar administration of local anesthetics. Objective To evaluate the role of intraoperative use of analgesics in tonsillar fossa and postoperative evaluation with visual analogue scale (VAS) scores in achieving pain relief after tonsillectomy procedure Methods In this study, 180 patients were randomized to 1 of the 6 groups: bupivacaine infiltration, lidocaine infiltration, normal saline infiltration, bupivacaine packing, lidocaine packing, and normal saline packing. Pain caused by speaking, swallowing, and on rest was assessed using VAS at 4, 8, 12, 16 hours, and at discharge. Results Significant analgesia was obtained in patients who received bupivacaine infiltration and packing compared with placebo (p < 0.05). The majority of the study subjects had no postoperative complications, and patients receiving bupivacaine infiltration required less additional analgesics in the first 24 hours after surgery. Conclusion We advocate the use of bupivacaine infiltration or packing immediately following the procedure to achieve adequate postoperative analgesia.