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The effect of pharyngeal packing on gastric volume in patients undergoing nasal surgery: a randomised, controlled trial

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 June 2023

Demet Altun*
Affiliation:
Department of Anesthesiology, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
Tülay Özkan-Seyhan
Affiliation:
Department of Anesthesiology, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
Mert Canbaz
Affiliation:
Department of Anesthesiology, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
Levent Aydemir
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
Dilek Altun
Affiliation:
Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, Istanbul, Turkey
Hürü Ceren Gökduman
Affiliation:
Department of Anesthesiology, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
Emre Çamcı
Affiliation:
Department of Anesthesiology, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
*
Corresponding author: Demet Altun; Email: drdemetaltun@hotmail.com
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Abstract

Objective

To explore the effects of pharyngeal packing on antral cross-sectional area, gastric volume and post-operative complications.

Methods

In this prospective, randomised, controlled study, 180 patients were randomly assigned to a control group or a pharyngeal packing group. Gastric antral dimensions were measured with pre- and post-operative ultrasound scanning. Presence and severity of post-operative nausea and vomiting and sore throat were recorded.

Results

Post-operative antral cross-sectional area and gastric volume were significantly larger in the pharyngeal packing group compared to the control group. The incidence and severity of post-operative nausea and vomiting were significantly less in the pharyngeal packing group. More frequent and severe sore throat was observed in the control group within the ward. An increased Apfel simplified risk score and post-operative antral cross-sectional area were associated with post-operative nausea and vomiting during the first 2 hours, whereas septorhinoplasty and functional endoscopic sinus surgery, absent pharyngeal packing, and lower American Society of Anesthesiologists’ physical status were associated with post-operative nausea and vomiting within the ward.

Conclusion

Regardless of operation type, pharyngeal packing use resulted in smaller gastric volume, which was associated with reduced post-operative nausea and vomiting frequency and severity, and lower sore throat incidence.

Information

Type
Main Article
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that no alterations are made and the original article is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained prior to any commercial use and/or adaptation of the article.
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of J.L.O. (1984) LIMITED
Figure 0

Figure 1. (a) Gastric ultrasound scanning of a patient in the right lateral decubitus position using a curved array low-frequency probe. (b) Gastric ultrasound scan of a patient before anaesthesia induction. (c) Gastric ultrasound scan of a patient before removal of the pharyngeal packing, following completion of surgery. R = rectus abdominis; Ap = anteroposterior; L = liver; A = antrum; Cc = cranio-caudal; P = pancreas; Sma = superior mesenteric artery; Ao = aorta

Figure 1

Figure 2. Flow chart of the study. FESS = functional endoscopic sinus surgery

Figure 2

Table 1. Demographic and surgical characteristics of study groups

Figure 3

Table 2. Ultrasound-derived data and post-operative complications

Figure 4

Table 3. Significant predictors of post-operative nausea and vomiting in PACU and ward*

Figure 5

Table 4. Results of subgroups according to operation type