TONSILLECTOMY UNDER LOCAL ANESTHESIA: IS IT SAFE, FEASIBLE AND PRACTICABLE? EXPERIENCE AT TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Background: Tonsillectomy is one of the most common ENT surgeries. Objective: The study was done to evaluate the feasibility of tonsillectomy under local anesthesia. Subjects and Methods: A total number of 80 consecutive patients whose tonsillectomy was performed under local anesthesia with systemic analgesic injections were included in this cross- sectional study. Peroperative difficulties and problems were noted. Similarly in post-operativ e period, the rate of complications was noted to conclude upon the feasibility of tonsillectomy under local anaesthesia. Results: A total of 80 patients were included in this study, with 36 females. Following complications were noted, Trismus (5%), difficult dissection (10%), primary hemorrhage (3.7%), reactionary hemorrhage (2.5%) and throat pain (10%). Conclusion: We concluded that the procedure is safe, feasible and practicable but should be done with certain precautionsi.