Effect of anesthesia without a neuromuscular blocking agent on intraoperative bleeding in adenotonsillectomy patients

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of general anesthesia, applied without a neuromuscular blocking agent, on the extent of intraoperative bleeding in children undergoing adenotonsillectomy. Materials and methods: A total of 81 adenotonsillectomy cases were examined retrospectively. The patients' ages, genders, and tonsil and adenoid sizes, as well as anesthetic technique, operation time, extent of bleeding during operation, and period of stay in the postanesthesia care unit, were reviewed. Among the patients, 38 were administered anesthesia with a neuromuscular blocker (control group) and 43 patients were given anesthesia without a neuromuscular blocker (study group). Results: No statistically significant difference was found between groups in terms of age, gender, and tonsil and adenoid sizes (p > 0.05). The operation times of the study group were significantly lower than those of the control group (p = 0.036; p < 0.05). A highly statistically significant difference was found between groups in terms of extent of bleeding (p = 0.001; p < 0.01). Bleeding in the study group was significantly lower than that in the control group. No statistically significant difference was found in terms of period of stay in the post anesthesia care unit (p > 0.05). Conclusion: In this study, we determined that, general anesthesia without a neuromuscular blocking agent significantly decreases operation time and intraoperative bleeding in adenotonsillectomy patients.