COLLOIDAL SALT NASAL TAMPONADES: THEIR USE AND ABUSE

Abstract

There is probably no other type of nasal therapeusis so empirical and yet so widely used as that of nasal tamponades saturated with a solution of mild protein silver. Both rhinologists and general practitioners have employed it for years in a wide range of nasal disorders. Some of their advocates have made bizarre claims that these nasal packs, introduced under certain specifications, will relieve or even cure any and all nasal disturbances from nasal catarrh to empyema of the antrum; they even go so far as to believe that such therapy will cure asthma and even some ocular afflictions. Yet the merits of these tamponades have never been scientifically proved; indeed, the fact remains that many observers have accumulated considerable evidence to the contrary. All along there has been a great lack of unanimity of opinion among authorities on this confused question, some notable workers standing stanchly by the use