Non-pharmacological treatment of post-tonsillectomy pain

Tonsillectomy is a very frequent procedure, particularly subject to postoperative pain that is considered long lasting and intense. Regulatory changes in the analgesic armamentarium, especially in children, are making the management of post-tonsillectomy pain more difficult. The present article provides an update on non-medical treatments that can be associated to classical analgesia.

Materials and methods: A literature review of all studies of non-medical management in tonsillectomy and postoperative analgesia, without restrictions of date, was performed on the Pubmed and Embase databases.

Results: The treatment modalities described in the 24 selected studies could be categorized as behavioral, local, acupuncture and general.

Conclusion: Although most studies reported benefit in terms of post-tonsillectomy pain, the small number of studies per category precluded recommendations for current practice. It nevertheless seems useful to consider and assess these techniques, to determine whether they have a role to play in the post-tonsillectomy analgesic armamentarium.