[Attitudes among ENT surgeons towards the use of nasal tamponade after nasal septal surgery].
OBJECTIVE
We investigated the use of nasal tamponade after nasal septal surgery among ENT surgeons.


METHODS
An 11-item questionnaire was prepared to investigate the use of nasal tamponade in nasal operations and administered to participating physicians at a meeting held in Adana, Turkey, on November 4, 2006, titled "Başkent ENT Days and Cukurova ENT Association Meeting". During the meeting 72 surgeons (13 females, 59 males; mean age 39 years; range 26 to 64 years) responded to the questionnaire.


RESULTS
Findings showed that 61 surgeons (84.7%) used nasal tamponade after nasal operations, while 11 surgeons (15.3%) preferred suturing. The most common reason for tampon use was to prevent septal hematoma and edema (63.9%). Most of the surgeons (60.5%) used nasal tamponade for two days. While all the participants used antibiotic treatment along with nasal tamponade, 98.3% also prescribed an analgesic, and 62.2% prescribed an antihistaminic. At the time of removing the nasal tampon, 13.2% (n=8) of the surgeons used a drug to prevent pain. The most common problem encountered during removal was pain (54%).


CONCLUSIONS
The use of nasal tamponade depends on the experience and preference of surgeons.
Erkan
Alper Nabi
AN
Department of Otolaryngology, Medicine Faculty of Başkent University, Ankara, Turkey. alpernabierkan@yahoo.com
Cakmak
Ozcan
O
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009300:Nasal Septum / Q000601:surgery*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013630:Tampons, Surgical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014421:Turkey