Efficacy and Safety of 3 Nasal Packing Materials Used After Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery for Chronic Rhinosinusitis: A Comparative Study in China

BACKGROUND This study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of 3 nasal packing products (silicone tube, Beschitin-F, and Aquacel1-Ag) after functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) for chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) patients in China. MATERIAL AND METHODS Sixty-six CRS patients undergoing FESS surgery were randomly divided into 3 groups (22 patients in each group): the silicone tube group, the Beschitin-F group, and the Aquacel1-Ag group. Postoperative headache, nasal pain, nasal bleeding, and swelling of the nasal mucosa were observed at 1 month after FESS surgery. Bacteriology of chronic rhinosinusitis was conducted by culturing the removed nasal packing. RESULTS The VAS scores of nasal pain in the silicone tube group were lower than in the Beschitin-F and the Aquacel1-Ag groups. The volume of nasal bleeding in the Beschitin-F group was higher than in the silicone tube and Aquacel1-Ag groups. The adhesion rate of the nasal cavity in the Beschitin-F1 group (2/22, 9.1%) was also higher than in the silicone tube group (0/22, 0%) and the Aquacel1-Ag group (0/22, 0%). The results of bacterial culture from removed nasal packing showed that coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) was more frequent in the silicone tube group than in the Beschitin-F and Aquacel1-Ag groups, but Streptococcus pneumonia, Haemophilus influenza, and Gram-negative rods were more common in the Aquacel1-Ag group than in the silicone tube and Beschitin-F groups. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that the silicone tube may be more effective and safe than Beschitin-F and Aquacel1-Ag as nasal packing after FES surgery for CRS.