Evaluating Perioperative Dexamethasone and the Risk of Bleeding in Tonsillectomy

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Post-operative Hemorrhage

In brief

Tonsillectomy (removal of the tonsils) is a very common surgery in children. Bleeding after tonsillectomy is one of the risks of this surgery and can be more dangerous in children since they have less blood volume than adults. In order to improve recovery after tonsillectomy, steroids (medication that is a strong anti-inflammatory) are often given during the surgery. Recently, a study showed steroids given at the time of tonsillectomy increase the risk of bleeding significantly over children who did not receive steroids. This finding has raised concerns in the Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) community since most ENT's use steroids during tonsillectomy in children. The investigators look to explore this question further. To answer the question of whether perioperative steroid administration significantly affects the rate of post-tonsillectomy bleeding, the investigators propose to test the following hypotheses in a prospective, randomized, blinded placebo-controlled trial: dexamethasone does not cause an increase in post-operative bleeding rate in tonsillectomy.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT01415583

Run by

Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary

People needed

314

Starts

2010-07-01

Expected to finish

2011-11-01

Last updated by the study team

2017-07-12

Who can join

Age: 3 and older, up to 18. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Patients ages 3 to 18 undergoing tonsillectomy or adenotonsillectomy by electrocautery alone for the indication of sleep disordered breathing or infectious tonsillitis.
• Patients with complex medical conditions or craniofacial abnormalities will be included.
• Informed consent and child assent are required for enrollment.
• Eligibility will be determined by the principal investigator, associate investigator or research nurse.

You may not qualify if…

• Subjects with a known personal or family history of any bleeding disorder will be excluded.
• Subjects currently on oral corticosteroids for other medical conditions or have recently taken any oral corticosteroid within two weeks of surgery.
• Patients with tonsillectomy performed using a cold knife technique, microdebrider, coblation or plasma knife due to surgeon or parent preference.
• Where appropriate subjects who do not have informed consent or child assent signed will be excluded
• Children less than three years old will be excluded due to the fact the majority of these children at the collaborating centers have an adenotonsillectomy using the microdebrider for pain control purposes.

Where it is running

• Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary — Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

Trial information comes from ClinicalTrials.gov and is refreshed daily. TrialsForMe does not provide medical care and does not run the studies it lists.