A randomized clinical trial of a nurse telephone follow-up on paediatric tonsillectomy pain management and complications

Aims To determine the effect of a nurse telephone follow‐up on paediatric post‐tonsillectomy pain intensity, complications, and use of other healthcare services. Background After tonsillectomy, children experience moderate‐to‐severe pain for days. Parents tend to give insufficient analgesia, with re...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of advanced nursing 2013-09, Vol.69 (9), p.2054-2065
Main Authors: Paquette, Julie, Le May, Sylvie, Lachance Fiola, Jacinthe, Villeneuve, Edith, Lapointe, Annie, Bourgault, Patricia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
aftercare
Child
Child, Preschool
children
day surgery
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Male
Nurse-Patient Relations
nurses/midwives/nursing
Nursing
Nursing care
nursing interventions
Otolaryngology
paediatric pain management
Pain management
Pain Management - methods
Pain, Postoperative - therapy
parent
Pediatrics
Postoperative Complications
postoperative pain
Surgical outcomes
Telephone
Throat
tonsillectomy
Tonsillectomy - adverse effects
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Aims To determine the effect of a nurse telephone follow‐up on paediatric post‐tonsillectomy pain intensity, complications, and use of other healthcare services. Background After tonsillectomy, children experience moderate‐to‐severe pain for days. Parents tend to give insufficient analgesia, with resulting increases in pain and postoperative complications. In adults, nurse telephone follow‐up for ambulatory surgeries reduces postoperative pain. Design The study design was a randomized clinical trial. Methods In this trial, children aged 4–12 years undergoing elective tonsillectomy in June–October 2010 were assigned to a nurse telephone follow‐up with parents on postoperative days 1, 3, 5 and 10, or standard care with no follow‐up but data collection. Outcomes included pain intensity, analgesics administered, complications, and healthcare use. Results Of 45 participants, the intervention group (n = 24) received more analgesics on postoperative days 1 and 3, increased their fluid intake at days 1 and 3, but had more constipation at day 3 than the control group (n = 21). There was no significant difference regarding pain intensity or use of healthcare resources. Conclusion Nurse telephone follow‐up was beneficial for some pain management and prevention of complications, although better analgesic treatments are needed. The intervention was simple, safe, and appreciated by parents.
ISSN:0309-2402
1365-2648
DOI:10.1111/jan.12072