A meta-analysis of 13 studies compared perioperative intraoral sucralfate with placebo or no treatment after tonsillectomy. Published in May 2026, it searched five databases to September 2025.
Sucralfate increased the proportion of patients reporting no or mild throat pain and ear pain, improved mucosal healing at five to seven days, and reduced throat pain, swallowing pain, ear pain, analgesic use and time to resume more than half a normal diet. Bleeding and nausea or vomiting did not differ significantly.
The abstract gives no pooled effect sizes, and the included studies are likely to differ in dose, formulation and timing. The authors call it a possible adjuvant, not a replacement for standard analgesia. Check local formulary and any guidance on post-tonsillectomy analgesia, and note that the abstract is silent on children specifically.
- Sucralfate improved throat pain, swallowing pain and ear pain after tonsillectomy.
- Analgesic use fell and diet resumed sooner.
- Post-operative bleeding did not differ significantly.
- Effect sizes are not given in the abstract, and dosing varied between studies.
- Consider it as an adjunct, not a substitute for regular analgesia.
Why it matters
Pain is the main cause of poor intake and readmission after tonsillectomy, and a cheap topical agent may ease it.
Don't overread it
The abstract does not give effect sizes or study quality, so the size and certainty of benefit are unknown.
The statistics, in plain English
A meta-analysis of small studies of different designs can show a consistent direction without telling you how large the benefit is. Pain scores are subjective, and many included studies were probably unblinded.
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