A Survey about Throat Pack Management in Perioperative Period

Throat packs are documented to cause airway obstruction [1-3]. There have several instances in the literature exploring obstruction of airway and other complications by pharyngeal packs [1-4]. They are commonly associated with throat pain and mucosal injury [4]. Besides their main use to prevent aspiration, throat packs can also lead to complications e.g. retained/forgotten throat packs, oedema, dysphagia, choking & hypoxia. In one randomized controlled trial throat packs were found to cause severe throat pain [5]. It is important to note though that the safety profile and utility of pharyngeal packs is still inconclusive and unproven [1,4]. What is conclusive so far however is that they are responsible for throat pain [4-6].