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While many parents of children entering a university teaching hospital for a tonsillectomy will say, “ I don’t want a student involved in my child’s surgery,” they would be making the wrong choice since the answer is YES. A University of Buffalo study now shows that children having their tonsils removed are 40% more less likely to require an urgent post-op ER visit if a resident takes part in the surgery.

The researchers reviewed the cases of 2,051 children having tonsillectomies. Those kids who had a resident take part in their operations were 42% less likely to require an emergency visit later on. Even more interesting: the rate of post-op bleeding, the most dreaded tonsillectomy complication, was the same whether or not a resident took part. Only age was a factor in such bleeding with older patients experiencing more.

If your child’s surgeon plans to include a trainee, the best bet is to welcome that young doctor to the team. Remember that residents are in training to learn techniques from their attending. When I and most of my colleagues operate with residents, we instruct the trainee to perform the procedure exactly as we would. If they stray from our roadmap, we take over.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0196070924000991?via=ihub

#tonsillectomy #resident #bleeding #ERvisit

Should a Resident Help Do Your Kid’s Tonsil Surgery?

Dr. Howard Smith Reports