Summary
A questionnaire, designed to assess bleeding/bruising tendencies, was administered
to 251 otherwise healthy children undergoing a tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy.
23 children with excessive bleeding during or after the operation, with a long bleeding
time or who reported taking aspirin recently were excluded, to give a population of
228 non-bleeders. For comparative purposes, 31 patients with bleeding disorders (von
Wille-brand’s disease and/or platelet function defects) were studied. A considerable
proportion of “non-bleeding” children reported easy bruising (24%), had bruises at
least once a week (36%) and suffered from nosebleeds (39%). The respective frequencies
(67%, 68% and 69%) for children with bleeding disorders were significantly higher.
Occurrence of bruises usually on more than one part of the body, frequent large bruises
or hematomas were rare in “non-bleeders” (4.9%, 3.5% and 2.7% respectively), but more
common in “bleeders” (38.5%, 29.6% and 21.7% respectively).
