The pain of nasal tampon removal after nasal surgery: a randomized control trial.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to compare the pain and discomfort associated with the removal of two commercially available nasal tampons after nasal surgery.

STUDY DESIGN

Prospective, paired, randomized clinical trial.

SUBJECTS

Consecutive, consenting, adult patients undergoing nasal surgery.

INTERVENTIONS

The nose was packed with a Rapid Rhino tampon (Applied Therapeutics, Tampa, FL) on one side and a Rhino Rocket tampon (Shippert Medical Technologies Corporation, Centennial, CO) on the other.

OUTCOMES

The pain of packing removal was assessed with a validated 100-mm visual analog scale. Patient satisfaction was measured on a Likert scale from 1 to 5.

RESULTS

In all 13 patients, the pain of removal was greater with the Rhino Rocket Tampon (82.7 +/- 20.9 mm) than with the Rapid Rhino tampon (12.0 +/- 11.9 mm); the mean difference was 70.7 mm (95% confidence interval [CI], 47.1-78.2 mm; P < 0.0001). Patient satisfaction was significantly higher with the Rapid Rhino nasal tampon (4.6 +/- 1.1 vs 1.5 +/- 0.7; mean difference 3.1 [95% CI, 2.6-3.6]; P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Removal of the Rapid Rhino nasal tampon was significantly less painful and was associated with higher patient satisfaction than the removal of the Rhino Rocket nasal tampon.