Table 2.
General characteristics, process indicators and outcome at baseline and follow-up
| Variables | Group of surgical centres | Control versus intervention | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Control group | Intervention group | Baseline | Follow-up | |||||
| Baseline | Follow-up | p value | Baseline | Follow-up | p value | p value | p value | |
| Tonsillectomy cases | n = 1318 | n = 1387 | n = 1220 | n = 942 | ||||
| Surgical centres (n) | 15 | 15 | 6 | 6 | ||||
| Gender | ||||||||
| Male | 572 (43.4%) | 564 (40.7%) | 517 (42.4%) | 430 (45.6%) | ||||
| Female | 746 (56.6%) | 823 (59.3%) | 0.16 | 703 (57.6%) | 512 (54.4%) | 0.14 | 0.63 | 0.019 |
| Age (years) | 19.8 (12.5) 18.5 (1.9; 76.9) n = 1318 |
20.5 (12.3) 19.1 (1.6; 72.6) n = 1387 |
0.082 | 20.2 (13.8) 18.1 (1.7; 78.0) n = 1220 |
21.3 (14.0) 18.8 (1.8; 77.8) n = 942 |
0.042 | 0.71 | 0.85 |
| Indication | ||||||||
| Obstruction | 379 (28.8%) | 354 (25.5%) | 370 (30.3%) | 275 (29.2%) | ||||
| Infection | 905 (68.7%) | 993 (71.6%) | 789 (64.7%) | 609 (64.6%) | ||||
| Other indications | 34 (2.6%) | 40 (2.9%) | 0.16 | 61 (5.0%) | 58 (6.2%) | 0.47 | 0.0025 | < 0.0001 |
| Level of care | ||||||||
| Outpatient | 736 (55.8%) | 919 (67.3%) | 565 (46.3%) | 450 (48.0%) | ||||
| Inpatient | 582 (44.2%) | 446 (32.7%) | < 0.0001 | 655 (53.7%) | 487 (52.0%) | 0.43 | < 0.0001 | < 0.0001 |
| Missing value | 22 | 5 | ||||||
| Process indicators | ||||||||
| Techniques for dissection/haemostasis | ||||||||
| Cold/cold | 89 (6.8%) | 70 (5.2%) | 76 (6.2%) | 138 (17.6%) | ||||
| Cold/hot | 508 (38.7%) | 597 (44.2%) | 692 (56.7%) | 601 (76.5%) | ||||
| Hot/hot | 715 (54.5%) | 685 (50.7%) | 0.34 | 452 (37.0%) | 47 (6.0%) | < 0.0001 | < 0.0001 | < 0.0001 |
| Missing value | 6 | 35 | 156 | |||||
| Techniques for dissection | ||||||||
| Cold dissection technique | 603 (45.8%) | 673 (49.6%) | 768 (63.0%) | 743 (94.1%) | ||||
| Hot dissection technique | 715 (54.2%) | 685 (50.4%) | 0.053 | 452 (37.0%) | 47 (5.9%) | < 0.0001 | < 0.0001 | < 0.0001 |
| Missing value | 29 | 152 | ||||||
| Techniques for haemostasis | ||||||||
| Cold haemostasis technique | 89 (6.8%) | 82 (6.0%) | 76 (6.2%) | 146 (15.6%) | ||||
| Hot haemostasis technique | 1223 (93.2%) | 1295 (94.0%) | 0.42 | 1144 (93.8%) | 788 (84.4%) | < 0.0001 | 0.63 | < 0.0001 |
| Missing value | 6 | 10 | 8 | |||||
| Outcome | ||||||||
| Post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage, readmission within 1–30 days | ||||||||
| Readmission for haemorrhage, no | 1183 (89.8%) | 1236 (89.1%) | 1065 (87.3%) | 875 (92.9%) | ||||
| Readmission for haemorrhage, yes | 135 (10.2%) | 151 (10.9%) | 0.59 | 155 (12.7%) | 67 (7.1%) | < 0.0001 | 0.052 | 0.0025 |
For categorical variables, n (%) is presented. For continuous variables, mean (SD)/median (min; max)/n, is presented