Post-Tonsillectomy Outcomes in Children With and Without Narcotics Prescriptions

Objective: To examine differences in outcomes after tonsillectomy in children who received outpatient narcotics prescriptions compared to those who did not. Methods: The MarketScan database was analyzed for claims made for 14 days following tonsillectomy/adenotonsillectomy between 2008 and 2012 for privately insured children 1 to 17 years. Post-op bleeding, dehydration, emergency department (ED) visits, readmissions, and mean total costs for the 14 days after tonsillectomy were compared. Results: Of the 294 795 patients included, 60.9% received a narcotic prescription. Acetaminophen/hydrocodone bitartrate was received by 53.2% of the group receiving narcotic drugs, 42.5% received acetaminophen/codeine phosphate, 3.0% received acetaminophen/oxycodone hydrochloride, and 0.5% received oxycodone hydrochloride alone. Children who had been prescribed narcotics had significantly higher percentages of bleeding complications (2.7% vs 2.5%,P< .001), and ED visits (6.8% vs 6.6%,P< .001) within 14 days, but a lower percentage of readmissions (1.0% vs 1.5%,P< .001). No significant difference was observed between groups for dehydration. There were some age-related differences. The mean total health-care costs for 14 days post-op were the same in each group, except for the 4- to 6-year-olds, where the narcotic group had higher costs (US $7060 vs US $5840,P= .006). Conclusion: In this large-scale study, we found small but statistically significant differences in outcomes related to use of narcotics. The only outcome that benefitted the narcotics group was a lower readmission rate.