The effects of a cold pack on postoperative turbinate and/or septal bleeding and pain

The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of a cold pack in postoperative turbinate and/or septal surgery in terms of postoperative bleeding control, pain management, and patient preference for or against application of a cold pack.

A randomized controlled trial was done at the Department of Otolaryngology, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. Ninety-nine adult subjects intending to have turbinate and/or septal surgery were consecutively enrolled in this study. Intervention was randomized into two groups. Postoperative bleeding was collected by paper tissue and weighed to determine amount and/or volume of blood loss. Postoperative pain was measured by using the visual analog scale. Patient preference for or against the use of a cold pack was also assessed.

The mean (standard deviation) postoperative bleeding in the cold pack group was 1.31 ± 1.50 g compared with 1.81 ± 1.89 g in the control group. The mean difference was 0.50 g (95% confidence interval, -0.19 to 1.19 g; p = 0.15). The mean (standard deviation) postoperative visual analog scale pain score in the cold pack group was 2.40 ± 2.32 compared with 3.33 ± 2.83 in the control group. The mean difference was 0.94 (95% confidence interval, -0.11 to 1.99; p = 0.79). Most of the subjects preferred using a cold pack (78.7%) to not using a cold pack (21.3%) (p < 0.001).

A cold pack after turbinate and/or septal surgery had no benefit in terms of postoperative bleeding or postoperative pain.