Post-Tonsillectomy Outcomes in Children With and Without Narcotics Prescriptions.

To examine differences in outcomes after tonsillectomy in children who received outpatient narcotics prescriptions compared to those who did not. 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. 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%, 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.