HYDROCORTISONE THERAPY FOR RELIEVING OF POST- TONSILLECTOMY PAIN: A RANDOMIZED, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED STUDY

Md. Hasanul Haque*, Md. Jaber-Al-Sayied1, Sonia Jahan Bithi, Habibur Rahman Palash, Nigar Sultana, H.M. Mustafizur Rahman , Md. Abdur Razzak and Md. Wahiduzzaman

ABSTRACT

Background: Post-operative pain following tonsillectomy is a common clinical problem faced by ENT surgeons. We investigated effect of two dose course of intravenous hydrocortisone in relieving pain following tonsillectomy. Materials & Methods: In this randomized, placebo-controlled trial, 40 consecutive patients between 20 and 40 years of age, who had no previous or known contraindications to steroid therapy, were randomly assigned at the time of surgery to either a two dose course of hydrocortisone (100 mg IV) or placebo; with the first dose administered during surgery and subsequent dose was given 12 hours following tonsillectomy. All of the patients were operated and treated by two same ranked surgeons. Postoperative pain was evaluated using visual analog scale. Results: In hydrocortisone group pain score was 6.55±0.76 & 2.65±0.87 at 1st & 7th POD respectively where as in placebo group pain score was 8.2±0.89 & 4.00± 0.92 respectively in 1st and 7th POD. There was significant pain reduction in IV hydrocortisone group. (P value 0.001) Conclusion: Application of 2 doses of hydrocortisone within 12 hours during and after tonsillectomy is advisable because of the reduction of postoperative pain.

Keywords: Tonsillectomy, hydrocortisone.