Safety of preoperative ibuprofen in pediatric tonsillectomy

OBJECTIVE: Oral ibuprofen is believed to be safe and effective after pediatric adenotonsillectomy. There has been little study of its use as a preoperative analgesic. We attempt to document its safety in this setting. STUDY DESIGN: Individual case control study. METHODS: Children who underwent tonsillectomy or adenotonsillectomy from January 2013 to December 2015 did not receive preoperative ibuprofen. Those who underwent tonsillectomy or adenotonsillectomy from January 2016 to December 2017 received oral ibuprofen 7 mg/kg preoperatively. Pre- and postoperative records were reviewed. Intraoperative bleeding > 50 mL or early postoperative bleeding requiring surgical control were outcome measures. Delayed bleeding events were also recorded. RESULTS: A total of 217 children met inclusion criteria. Of those, 112 patients did not receive preoperative ibuprofen, and 105 patients did receive preoperative ibuprofen. Mean age was 8.7 years (range: 1-18) in the control/non-ibuprofen cohort and 8.3 years (range: 1-18) in the ibuprofen cohort. No child experienced significant intraoperative or early postoperative bleeding in the non-ibuprofen (95% confidence interval [CI] 0-0.027) or in the ibuprofen cohort (95% CI 0- 0.029). Delayed bleeding rates were similar in both groups. CONCLUSION: In this series, children treated with preoperative ibuprofen did not experience increased bleeding during or soon after tonsillectomy compared to controls. Pain control was not studied in these patients. These favorable safety data argue for a future prospective randomized study of preoperative ibuprofen's effectiveness in reducing pain and opioid requirement after pediatric tonsillectomy. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3b. Laryngoscope, 128:2415-2418, 2018.