Diclofenac and Post-tonsillectomy Haemorrhage

The authors noticed a marked increase in the incidence of reactionary post-operative haemorrhage after tonsillectomy during the course of 1992. This increase appeared to be related to the introduction of diclofenac as a post-operative analgesic. A retrospective review of casenotes of patients having tonsillectomy under the care of the senior author (P.M.R.) in 1992 revealed that four of the 73 patients (5.5%) receiving diclofenac at induction of anaesthesia suffered reactionary haemorrhage requiring operative control, as compared with two of 293 (0.7%) receiving other analgesics.