Effect of polyvinyl acetal sponge nasal packing on post-operative care of nasal polyposis patients: a randomised, controlled, partly blinded study

Objective:To compare the effects of routine nasal packing with polyvinyl acetal sponge (Merocel) versus no packing, after endoscopic sinus surgery for nasal polyposis.Subjects and methods:This clinical, randomised, controlled trial was performed in an academic tertiary referral centre between 2008 and 2011. Sixty patients with resistant nasal polyposis underwent endoscopic sinus surgery, and were then randomly divided into two groups: packed and non-packed. The amount of bleeding and pain in each group during pack removal was documented.Results:There was no significant difference between the two groups in the outcome of surgery and complications. One patient in each group needed extra packing. In the packed group, the mean ± standard deviation pain score on pack removal was 61 ± 3 (using a visual analogue scale in which 0 = no pain and 100 = worst pain imaginable).Conclusion:This study found no significant difference between polyvinyl acetal packed and non-packed groups, following endoscopic sinus surgery for nasal polyposis. This confirms the findings of similar studies, and supports the reconsideration of routine post-operative packing in selected cases.