McMaster pediatric surgery chief says deaths after tonsil surgery ‘very rare’

The chief of pediatric surgery at McMaster Children’s Hospital says the deaths of two children following tonsil and adenoid surgeries at his hospital are “tragic” and “very rare.”

“We are deeply saddened by their deaths and offer our sincere condolences to their families,” Dr. Devin Peterson said in a video posted online Friday — two days after the Hamilton hospital announced the children’s deaths and plans for an outside review.

One child died the day after the operation, and the other died nine days after the procedure, Hamilton Health Sciences said in a statement on its website, noting that the hospital had stopped all pediatric operations, except for tonsils and adenoids, to Tuesday.

Surgeries will not resume until the external review is complete, Peterson said.

“McMaster Children’s Hospital is a leading pediatric center and we take this responsibility very seriously,” he said.

According to the Canadian Otolaryngological Society, about five percent of patients bleed after surgery and may need to return to the hospital as a result.

“Tonsillectomy is considered a major surgical intervention. The main risk is bleeding, which can be serious,” the society’s website states.

“Most bleeding occurs seven to 10 days after surgery, but rarely, bleeding can occur up to 17 days after surgery.”

McMaster Children’s Hospital performed 584 pediatric tonsil and/or adenoid surgeries last year, and 5.8 percent of patients returned to the emergency department after being discharged, the Hamilton Health Sciences website said.

On Friday, the Hamilton Spectator reported that another child who had tonsil and adenoid surgery at the hospital in May started bleeding the morning after the procedure.

The newspaper said the eight-year-old girl was released hours after the operation. She became critically ill and ended up in intensive care, her grandfather, Dr Stephen List, told the Spectator. She survived but has not yet fully recovered, List said.

In an emailed response to The Canadian Press, a spokesperson for Hamilton Health Sciences said decisions about patient care, such as when they can be discharged after surgery, “are based on the clinical expertise of the team care, standard clinical guidelines, appropriateness and safety of the patient and with family consent’.

Clinical practice guidelines recommend that patients younger than three years of age or those with severe obstructive sleep apnea be kept overnight for monitoring after tonsil and/or adenoid surgery, said Lillian Badzioch, problem management manager and risk communication, in e-mail.

But for most other children, it’s a day procedure, she said.

“Most children, three years of age and older, who have tonsil and adenoid surgery are discharged home the same day, according to clinical practice guidelines and after meeting criteria for safe discharge,” Badzioch said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 7, 2024.

Canadian Press medical coverage is supported through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.

Nicole Ireland, Canadian Press