Post-operative morbidity was prospectively studied in 384 children after tonsillectomy or adenotonsillectomy, using visual analogue scores to record symptom levels, and questionnaires to monitor satisfaction scores from the children and their families. Assessments were performed between the 7th and 14th day post-operatively. Two hundred children were assessed before the introduction of a pre-admission programme which consisted of an instructional videotape session in the ward and an advice booklet. Department practice was also changed to provide a bottle of paracetamol on discharge routinely for each child. Following these changes in practice a further 184 children were assessed. The provision of relatively simple measures in the programme increased parental satisfaction rates (P<0.05) and reduced GP contact rates (35--17%, P<0.05) post-operatively. The actual levels of morbidity were unchanged despite the provision of analgesia.