Comparison of Monopolar with Bipolar Diathermy in Patients Undergoing Tonsillectomy

Aim: To compare monopolar with bipolar diathermy in terms of mean operation timings in tonsillectomy. Study design & duration: Randomized control trial from June 2013 to March 2014. Methods: A total of 100 cases (50 in each group) between 5-50 years of both gender with the history of recurrent acute tonsillitis were included in the study while patients with hematological disorders-confirmed on necessary blood tests, patients in which tonsillectomy is carried out as a part of another operation like removal of styloid process or excisional biopsy for suspected malignancy, congenital disorders like Down syndrome, and submucous cleft palate were excluded from the study. Results: In our study, age distribution of the patients was done which shows that 31(62%) in Group-A and 34(68%) in Group-B were between 5-20 years and 19(38%) in Group-A and 16(32%) in Group-B were between 21-40 years, mean+ sd was computed as 18.62 +/- 9.17, 28(56%) in Group-A and 30(60%) in Group-B were male while 22(44%) in Group-A and 20(40%) in Group-B were females, mean operation timing in tonsillectomy was recorded as 6.25 +/- 1.81 in Group-A and 11.9 +/- 2.12 in Group-B, p value was calculated as 0.0001 which shows a significant difference between the two groups. Conclusion: On comparison of monopolar with bipolar diathermy in terms of mean operation timings in tonsillectomy, monopolar diathermy is found with significantly reduced intra operative time.