Management: Postoperative crying has not been associated with adverse outcome or increased perioperative risk. Specifically, it is not known to be associated with either post-surgical depression or stress cardiomyopathy. There is a theoretical risk of increased postoperative bleeding after tonsillectomy in the crying patient, but there is little data to support this concern.
A high degree of clinical suspicion for pain should be held in the perioperative period, and many individuals should receive additional analgesia. In the absence of pain or another treatable underlying cause, management is supportive and entails calm and repeated reassurance, empowerment of the patient as much as possible in their own care, and the presence of a familiar person or family member, if available.
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