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.