Rayan Alhussaini

Given that parents act as both decision-makers and caregivers for their children, focusing on their experiences in managing their child's complex postoperative recovery is important. To evaluate the parents’ awareness regarding adenotonsillar diseases and post-adenotonsillectomy complications in their children. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study involving parents and guardians of pediatric patients aged 1-14 years scheduled to undergo adenotonsillectomy according to Paradise Criteria at Ohud Hospital, Al Madinah. A well-constructed, self-administered questionnaire, including questions regarding sociodemographic characteristics and those assessing the knowledge of parents/guardians regarding adenotonsillar diseases and post-adenotonsillectomy complications, was distributed to all participants. This study included 294 parents (mean ± standard deviation of age, 33.0 ± 6.9 years; range, 18 and 55 years), more than half of whom were males (153, 52%). Overall, 127 parents (43.2%) had a poor level of knowledge regarding the complications of recurrent adenotonsillitis and its surgical treatment. University/postgraduate parents were more knowledgeable than lower educated parents (p < 0.001). Participants with a family history of recurrent adenotonsillectomy were more knowledgeable than those who had no such history (p < 0.001 ). The parents/guardians of children scheduled to undergo adenotonsillectomy had insufficient knowledge regarding the complications of recurrent adenotonsillitis and its surgical treatment, necessitating health education among such a demographic.

Introduction The post-tonsillectomy pain can lead to a decrease in fluid and food intake, followed by dehydration, which can slow down the repair process and make pain control harder. Different groups of analgesics have their own side effects. Therefore, the consideration of non-pharmacological ways to control pain can be of great value such as ice cream and other cold drinks. Aim The purpose behind this study is to assess whether the use of ice cream after tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy in children reduces pain in the immediate postoperative period, as well as to compare the effect of ice cream and diet at room temperature on post-tonsillectomy pain in children. Materials and methods Each patient's post-operative pain was evaluated and assessed by nursing staff prior to discharge using two reliable pain scale: FLACC scale (F: Face, L: Legs, A: Activity, C: Cry, C: Consolability) for patient less than seven years and Wong Baker pain scale (Face 0, very happy because he doesn't hurt, Face 1, hurts a little bit, Face 2, hurts a little more, Face 3, hurts even more, Face 4, hurts a whole lot, Face 5, hurts as much as you can imagine, although you do not have to be crying to fell this bad) for patient more than seven years. Results The ice cream intake is significantly associated with having no pain (p-value 0.014). In univariate regression, compared to preschool, school-aged children have significant effect with the ice cream intake postoperatively (OR = 0.286, p-value 0.039) while sex and instrument used to assess pain score were having no significant effect with the ice cream intake postoperatively. Conclusion Further research is needed in order to validate the effectivity of ice cream intakes after tonsillectomy in our region.