Soft nasal bolster or tape nasal dressing after sinonasal surgery: The patient knows best

Abstract

Background: Rolled up gauzes held in place under the nose with a sticky tape applied to the cheeks are routinely used immediately post-op on patients following their sinonasal surgery. Removal of the tape can be painful for patient. To avoid this, we introduced a nasal bolster made by putting a rolled up swab in an elasticated tubular bandage which is then tied at the back of the head. Methods: A prospective patient satisfaction survey questionnaire carried out over 8 months from inpatient stay patients who underwent sinonasal surgery. A database was created to record patient demographics, type of surgery, type of bolster used, patients reported satisfaction and preference for type of nasal bolster scored on a visual analogue scale (VAS) from 1-10. Results: A total of 130 (Male 77; age range 14-79 years) completed the questionnaires. Most common operations were FESS and septoplasty. Of the 130 patients, 100 used only the soft nasal bolster and scored it 8.5/10 on the VAS. A cohort of 30 patients used both types of bolsters and had preferred the soft bolster compared to the tape dressing (VAS 8.3 vs 3.8). Conclusion: Our simple service evaluation study shows that non-adhesive nasal bolster is preferred following sinonasal surgery. The soft nasal bolster is easy to make at a relative small cost and is non-abrasive and painless for post-op patients. Therefore, we propose the soft nasal bolster should be more widely used in post-operative care for patient comfort.