Effect of Bupivacaine-infused Fibrin Sealant Application on Post-tonsillectomy Pain & Hemorrhage

Plain-language summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of combining two interventions already in use at some institutions for reducing post-operative pain following tonsillectomy or adenotonsillectomy. The standard of care at most institutions is to leave the tonsillectomy wound bed exposed to heal on its own over one to two weeks. At many institutions, surgeons inject or topically apply local anesthetics such as bupivacaine hydrochloride to the tonsillectomy wound bed to help reduce post-operative pain. At other institutions, surgeons apply a layer of fibrin sealant, which is derived from the proteins that help form blood clots in blood, to the tonsillectomy wound bed in order to cover the site and reduce irritation and exposure of the wound bed. Use of fibrin sealant has the additional benefit of potentially reducing postoperative bleeding (hemorrhage) rates. Both the post-tonsillectomy use of bupivacaine (injection and topical) and the use of topical fibrin sealant application have been studied previously in the scientific literature; some studies show a clear benefit, others show no significant reduction in pain when they are used. No studies have documented harm. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of infusing bupivacaine anesthetic into the fibrin sealant prior to application to the tonsillectomy wound bed. In this way, the combined product would function as a sort of "medicated bandaid" covering the painful wound bed and slowly delivering an entirely safe total dose of bupivacaine into the wound bed to reduce post-operative pain. Parents will be provided post-operative pain measurements to complete during the first 10 postoperative days and return to the researchers for data analysis.

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