Introduction
Tonsillectomies are one of the commonest ENT procedures performed in the
UK. The last National Prospective Tonsillectomy Audit carried out in
2003/04 identified a total of 50,531 adult and paediatric patients who
underwent a tonsillectomy within the UK [1], and
interval commissioning reports conducted by The Royal College of
Surgeons of England have recorded continued high volumes of caseloads,
with over 31,000 performed in 2012/13 [2] and more
than 27,000 performed in 2019/20 [3]. Although
tonsillectomy is considered relatively low-risk, previous research has
suggested a possible correlation between surgical techniques and the
incidence of post-operative haemorrhage [1];
however, most of these explore the surgical equipment and dissection
techniques used rather than the approach to checking haemostasis.