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Wound healing after tonsillectomy – a review of the literature

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2018

N H Davidoss ,
R Eikelboom ,
P L Friedland  and
P L Santa Maria
N H Davidoss*
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Head, Neck and Skull Base Surgery, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Nedlands, Australia Ear Sciences Centre, School of Medicine, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia Ear Science Institute of Australia, Perth, Australia
R Eikelboom
Affiliation:
Ear Sciences Centre, School of Medicine, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia Ear Science Institute of Australia, Perth, Australia Department of Speech and Language Pathology and Audiology, University of Pretoria, South Africa
P L Friedland
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Head, Neck and Skull Base Surgery, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Nedlands, Australia Ear Sciences Centre, School of Medicine, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia Ear Science Institute of Australia, Perth, Australia School of Medicine, University of Notre Dame, Fremantle, Australia
P L Santa Maria
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Head, Neck and Skull Base Surgery, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Nedlands, Australia Ear Sciences Centre, School of Medicine, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia Ear Science Institute of Australia, Perth, Australia Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Stanford University, California, USA
*
Author for correspondence: Dr Nishant Hemanth Davidoss, Department of Otolaryngology, Head, Neck and Skull Base Surgery, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Hospital Avenue, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia E-mail: [email protected] Fax: +61 8 9346 4899
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Abstract

Objective

To summarise the available literature related to wound healing post tonsillectomy, including the stages of healing, experimental models for assessing healing (in animals and humans) and the various factors that affect wound healing.

Methods

A search of the English literature was conducted using the Ovid Medline database, with the search terms ‘tonsillectomy’ or ‘tonsil’ and ‘wound healing’. Thirty-one articles that objectively assessed tonsillectomy wound healing were included for analysis.

Results

The majority of assessments in humans investigating tonsillectomy wound healing involve serial direct clinical examinations of the oral cavity. Many patient and surgical factors have been shown to affect wound healing after tonsillectomy. There is some research to suggest that the administration of adjunctive treatment in the post-operative period may be beneficial to tonsillectomy wound healing.

Conclusion

Wound healing post tonsillectomy has been poorly researched. Having a better understanding of the process of wound healing would allow surgeons to potentially prevent, anticipate and manage complications from the surgery that arise as part of the healing process.

Keywords

TonsillectomyTonsilWound Healing
Type
Review Articles
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 132 , Issue 9 , September 2018 , pp. 764 - 770
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited, 2018 

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Footnotes

Dr N H Davidoss takes responsibility for the integrity of the content of the paper

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