Effectiveness of hypopharyngeal packing during nasal and sinus surgery in the prevention of PONV

Abstract

Objective Evaluate the hypopharyngeal packing effectiveness on prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) in nasal surgery. Study Design and Setting A randomized clinical trial was conducted from July 2004 to October 2005. The intervention group was submitted to hypopharyngeal packing after orotracheal tube placement. The control group had no hypopharyngeal packing. Occurrence of nausea, vomiting, use of antiemetic drugs, and throat pain were checked blindly on recovery period. Results One hundred forty-four patients were included in the study. There was no difference related to postoperative nausea (RR 1.34; CI 0.72–2.48), vomiting (RR 0.52; CI 0.19–1.47), use of anti-emetic drugs (RR 1.54; CI 0.80–2.95), and throat pain (RR 0.91; 0.62–1.34) between both groups. A beta error could not be excluded. CONCLUSION: Results suggest there is no benefit in hypopharyngeal packing on PONV prevention in nasal surgery. New studies with a greater number of patients should be carried out in order to confirm these results.