Comparative study of clinical outcomes following conventional versus laser assisted tonsillectomy

Introduction: A number of published studies have compared the KTP laser with standard dissection technique for tonsillectomy and safety of the laser is well described. This study aims to have a comprehensive insight into the comparative clinical outcomes for conventional tonsillectomy with KTP-532 laser assisted tonsillectomy. Materials and Methods : Prospective, comparative study enrolling 60 patients with chronic adenotonsillitis who visited the department of ENT, NRI Medical college and General hospital of a Tertiary referral centre from June 2018 to July 2019. After confirming the diagnosis, the patients were subjected to a detailed history and clinical examination and the patients were divided into two groups – The patients (30 cases) in the first half of this period underwent conventional tonsillectomy whereas the rest (30 cases) underwent laser tonsillectomy. All patients in this study were assessed for operative time, blood loss, post-operative pain, tonsillar fossa healing and incidence of haemorrhage. The differences between studied groups less than 0.5 (p<0.05) considered significant statically. Results: It was observed that total time taken for surgery, mean blood loss, intra-op blood loss, and post-op pain at Day 0 were comparatively less in Group B. While post-op pain at Day 14 was less in Group A. Moreover, Post -op Pain at Day 7, incidence of haemorrhage and healing of tonsillar fossa showed no significant difference in both groups. Conclusion: Laser assisted tonsillectomy is a safe alternative to conventional tonsillectomy associated with low intraoperative bleeding and less time-consuming surgery when compared to conventional tonsillectomy.