The Role of Sucralfate in Post-Tonsillectomy Pain in Children: A Scoping Review.

Objectives: The goal of this scoping review is to investigate the efficacy of sucralfate on postoperative pain following oropharyngeal surgery in the pediatric population using pain scales, analgesic use, diet toleration, and bleeding. Furthermore, we wanted to highlight the clinical importance of the limitations in the current literature.

Review methods: The search was performed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Extension for Scoping Reviews. Results of included studies and a narrative summary of our findings are presented through descriptive statistics (frequency [%] for categorical variables and mean [range] for continuous variables with 95% confidence intervals [CI]).

Results: Of the 195 abstracts identified, 3 studies (N = 241) pertaining to sucralfate and post-operative pain in the pediatric population were included. Sucralfate group had a mean age of 6.13 (range = 3-12) versus 6.82 (range = 3-12) for control group. Sucralfate group had statistically significant reduction in pain scores than control group. Analgesic use was consistently lower in the sucralfate group compared to the control group. Two studies also showed a difference in diet tolerance between the 2 groups.

Conclusions: Tonsillectomy is one of the most frequently performed procedures on children and the procedure results in an extended and painful recovery. The literature shows promising results of sucralfate in the reduction of post-tonsillectomy pain in the pediatric population; however, the literature is limited, and further investigation is warranted.

Level of evidence: 2.