Effect of Oral Honey as an Adjunct Therapy for Post-Tonsillectomy Pain Management among Children

Background: Tonsillectomy is a popular pediatric surgical operation and ranks as the 24th out of 179 surgical procedures .Honey consumption can help reduce the frequency of painkiller intake and severity of pain after surgery. Aim: Evaluate the effect of oral honey as an adjunct therapy for children's post-tonsillectomy pain management. Research design: Quasi-experimental research design was utilized. Setting: Inpatient and outpatient of ear, nose and throat department at Minia University Hospital. Sample: A purposive sample of 108 children divided equally into two groups. Tools: One tool was used and included an interview questionnaire sheet covering demographic characteristics of the studied children and their mothers; Wong-Baker faces scale (WBFS), numerical rating scale (NRS), number of analgesics taken and the number of awake at night following tonsillectomy. Results: It was found that; there were highly statistically significant variations between the study and control groups related to WBFS and NRS pain severity levels from the 1st to 10th day after tonsillectomy (p< 0.001). In addition: there were statistically significant differences between the study and control groups regarding the number of analgesic consumption and the number of awake at night from the 1st to 10th day after tonsillectomy. Conclusion: Oral honey is effective in pain reduction after tonsillectomy among children evidenced by reduction in total level of pain, analgesic consumption and awake at night. Recommendations: Oral honey should be a part of hospitals’ protocols and endorsed as a part of the dietar