Oct 16, 2014 07:21 AM EDT By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

Children from low-income families are more likely to suffer from Post-tonsillectomy complications, according to a new study by University of California, Los Angeles. The researchers found a significant disparity based on income status, race and ethnicity within the first 14 days of tonsillectomy.

Every year in United States, approximately 500,000 children undergo the procedure.

"Surprisingly, despite all children having a relatively uniform health status before surgery, we found significant differences in the numbers of children requiring revisits after their tonsillectomies," said co-author Dr. Nina Shapiro, director of pediatric otolaryngology at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA and a professor of head and neck surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, in a press release.

For the study, the researchers observed nearly 80,000 children who had tonsillectomy surgeries in four states - California, Iowa, Florida and New York. The revisit rates and diagnoses in the 14 days after the tonsil removal surgery were analyzed with respect to gender, race and median household income level.

The researchers found that nearly 8 percent of the children visited the doctor within two weeks following the surgery for complications including bleeding, pain and dehydration/fever. Black and Hispanic children were more likely to suffer from a complication than white children. When compared to those in the highest income group, children in the lowest income households were one-and-a-half times more likely to contact a doctor for visit after surgery; and there was a one-and-a-one-third times greater likelihood of bleeding post surgery.

"One possibility is that families in the higher income group may have had easier access to communication with their doctor via phone or email, alleviating the need for doctor visits," said Shapiro. "Another possibility is that children in the lower income group may have had low-grade chronic illnesses or infections, making them more susceptible to postoperative problems. Or, educational level and possible language barriers may have played a role in postoperative outcomes."

The findings are published in the journal Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

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