It has been said that laser excision of oral and oropharyngeal lesions result in less intraoperative blood loss, reduced postoperative pain and delayed wound healing, but few controlled studies have been done to substantiate these claims. A study
was
undertaken to examine the benefits of the diode laser in a group of 20 patients who underwent tonsillectomy. One side tonsil was removed with diode laser and the other side was excised with conventional dissection and snare technique.
@ES The results were as follows :
@EN 1) In comparison with standard dissection and snare technique, laser tonsillectomy had less postoperative throat pain, less intraoperative blood loss, but longer operation time.
2) Postoperative otalgia and incidence of postoperative bleeding were statistically insignificant.
From the above results, tonsillectomy with diode laser may be useful for patients with clotting abnormailities or sensitive patients in pain or children need less bleeding. (Korean J Otolaryngo1 39 : 5, 1996)
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