Professional paper
Coblation tonsilloadenoidectomy - treatment of choice for very small children
Željka Roje
; School of Medicine, University of Split, Šoltanska 12, 21 000 Split, Croatia
VESELIN ŠKRABIĆ
; Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital, Split, Croatia
SANDA STOJANOVIĆ STIPIĆ
; Department of Anesthesiology, University Hospital Split, Split, Croatia
Abstract
Tonsillectomy is one of the most common operative procedures in childhood. According to the Croatian national guidelines
for the treatment of sore throat (ISKRA guidelines), apsolute indications for tonsillectomy are recurrent tonsillitis (>4 per
year) and sleep disordered breathing (including snoring and obstructive sleep apnea). Most children in Croatia undergo
conventional cold steel tonsillectomy with bipolar diathermy coagulation using reusable surgical accessories. Estimated
blood loss during this type of surgery is about 10% of complete blood volume. That is why, tonsillectomy is performed
mostly in children 3 years of age and above because their weight and blood volume. Coblation tonsillectomy results in
less postoperative blood loss and less postoperative morbidity and is therefore the method of choice for operating on very
small children.
We present the case of a 3-year-old girl with somatic retardation (height 92 cm, weight 9,280 kg) who underwent coblation
tonsilloadenoidectomy. As far as we now, this procedure has never been performed in a child of lower weight.
Keywords
tonsillectomy; body weight; obstructive sleep apnea; weight gain
Hrčak ID:
134111
URI
Publication date:
1.10.2013.
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