OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of follow-up telephone interviews and 
questionnaires after tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy.
DESIGN: Cohort study and retrospective review of the outcomes of patients whose 
follow-ups were conducted by telephone interview. Patients were contacted 2 to 4 
weeks after surgery; responses were recorded on a standardized postoperative 
questionnaire.
SETTING: Tertiary pediatric hospital.
PATIENTS: A total of 2554 consecutive patients who had undergone tonsillectomy, 
adenoidectomy, or both procedures and completed a follow-up telephone interview 
during the period of January 8, 2000, to September 23, 2004.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Time to return to normal diet and activities, 
postoperative complications, pain management, postoperative visits, and 
caregiver's evaluation of the follow-up telephone survey.
RESULTS: A total of 2554 patient outcomes were reviewed. The mean patient age 
was 5.9 years. Follow-up contact occurred a mean of 24.1 days after surgery. Of 
the surgical procedures performed, there were 1957 adenotonsillectomies, 235 
adenoidectomies, and 362 tonsillectomies. At the time of follow-up, 2.7% of the 
patients had undergone an additional surgical procedure to treat postoperative 
bleeding, 96.9% had resumed eating a normal diet, and 96.2% had resumed normal 
activities. Bleeding from the nose or mouth was reported to have occurred at 
some point during the recovery period in 12.8%. On a pain scale of 1 to 10, a 
mean pain peak of 6.7 was reported. For most patients, pain was highest on the 
second day after surgery. The percentage of patients who had temporary voice 
change was 62.7%, and 15.4% had a follow-up clinic visit. Regarding caregivers, 
99.5% reported being given instructions for postoperative care, and 98.8% 
reported that they felt well prepared to care for their child at home. There 
were no adverse events reported from surgical intervention.
CONCLUSIONS: Compared with our previous experience with scheduled postsurgical 
clinic follow-ups, telephone interviews and standardized postoperative 
questionnaires pose no additional risk to patients. Considerable cost reduction 
and patient convenience were realized with a reduction of patient visits.