Authors' objectives:

This aim of this report was to assess whether antibiotic and/or steroid therapy reduces pain and secondary haemorrhaging after tonsillectomy.

Authors' recommendations: - Eleven studies were retrieved that met inclusion and exclusion criteria - Studies differed with regards to the type of antibiotic and steroid therapy used. Timing, dosage and mode of administration were also different between studies. - The effect of antibiotic/steroid therapy for post-operative pain was generally inconclusive: only half the studies demonstrated an effect. - Antibiotic/steroid therapy had no effect on either primary or secondary hemorrhage. - The majority of studies were of poor methodological quality. Distinctive methodological problems included: - Use of subjective pain measures that have not bee previously validated - Dependence of results to sample size, (which may have been too small to detect a difference between groups). - Only one study was of high methodological quality, with low potential for bias.

Authors' methods: Review

Project Status: Completed

URL for project: http://www.med.monash.edu.au/healthservices/cce/evidence/

Year Published: 2000

English language abstract: An English language summary is available

Publication Type: Not Assigned

Country: Australia

Organisation Name: Centre for Clinical Effectiveness

Contact Address: Monash Institute of Health Services Research, Block E, Monash Medical Centre, Locked Bag 29, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia. Tel: +61 3 9594 7505; Fax: +61 3 9594 7552.

Contact Name: cce@med.monash.edu.au.

Contact Email: cce@med.monash.edu.au.

Copyright: Centre for Clinical Effectiveness (CCE)