Though parents might expect their children to receive consistent care across hospitals in the US for routine procedures, a new study published in the journal Pediatrics investigates how quality of care for children after a tonsillectomy varies from hospital to hospital.
The study authors worked in collaboration with the Center for Pediatric Clinical Effectiveness at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, PA, and the Pediatric Research and Inpatient Setting Network (PRIS).
When a child frequently experiences tonsillitis - inflammation of the tonsils - doctors often recommend having the troublesome tonsils removed, as there is no specific treatment for the condition.
Over 500,000 tonsillectomies are performed on children in the US each year, the researchers say, which makes it the second most common reason for care in children's hospitals.
But they wanted to determine whether this routine procedure was, well, routine across all hospitals.
So they retrospectively tracked low-risk children who underwent same-day tonsillectomies between 2004 and 2010 at 36 children's hospitals. They excluded children with chronic diseases or those who were admitted to the hospital for an emergency tonsillectomy.
Quality of care was evaluated by noting whether or not hospitals followed the current practice guidelines, which advise using dexamethasone - a corticosteroid that reduces nausea, vomiting and pain - and not using antibiotics.
Variations found in adherence to guidelines
The team traced how many children returned to the hospital within 30 days of their surgery with problems such as bleeding, vomiting and dehydration.
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