Comparative study of nasal packs and postoperative negative-pressure septal drainage in patients undergoing nasal septal surgery / 临床耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE@#To study whether negative-pressure septal drainage could be an alternative to packs after septoplasty.@*METHOD@#This was a randomized controlled trial. The study involved 60 patients who underwent septoplasty. Patients were randomly divided into two groups, one with anterior nasal packs and the other with negative-pressure septal drainage. Patients were asked to record pain levels using a visual analogue scale (VAS). Postoperative symptoms and complications were compared during 24 h and 48 h postoperative period including pain, drying sensation of mouth, sleep difficulty, conjunctival congestion, haemorrhage. VAS scores and incidence were evaluated during 1 week and 6 weeks postoperative period including pain, bleeding, haematoma, septal perforation, synechiae and septal perforation.@*RESULT@#Patients of negative-pressure septal drainage suffered from less pain than patients of nasal packs during the first 24 h and 48 h postoperative period. The results for pain, drying sensation of mouth, sleep difficulty, conjunctival congestion, haemorrhage were different between groups (P 0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#Using negative-pressure drainage instead of nasal packs after septoplasty seems a more reasonable option. The negative-pressure drainage technique may be the preferred option to provide higher patient satisfaction and has the same level of postoperative complica.tion to nasal packs as for septoplasty surgery.