We examined the effects of the duration of keeping a
Merocel nasal packing in the nose and the application technique (packing applied either directly or inside a glove finger) on postoperative morbidity and complications. The study included 129 patients (67 males and 62 females; age range 18 to 56 years) undergoing nasal septoplasty without turbinate intervention. The patients were randomly assigned into 4 groups. In group 1 and group 2,
Merocel was directly applied in the nasal cavity for 24 hours and 48 hours, respectively; in group 3 and group 4,
Merocel was kept in the nasal cavity in a
powder-free glove finger for 24 hours and for 48 hours, respectively.
Pain and discomfort scores were evaluated by a visual analog scale. The time taken between removal of the tampon and when the patients began to breathe comfortably was called the
nasal obstruction time. The differences in mean discomfort score between the groups were not statistically significant (P > 0.05), while the mean
pain scores were statistically higher in groups 1 and 2 than in groups 3 and 4 (P < 0.05). The
nasal obstruction time was statistically shorter in groups 2 and 4 than in groups 1 and 3 (P < 0.05). Therefore, keeping
Merocel inside a glove finger in place for 48 hours notably reduces the
pain occurring during the removal of the nasal tampon. It also reduces
nasal obstruction time and prevents synechia, leakage,
bleeding, and septal
hematoma, without compromising patient comfort.