The analgesic efficacy of dipyrone during removal of nasal packings after septal surgery

Septoplasty is one of the most common nasal operations performed in otorhinolaryngological practice. At the end of the operation, most surgeons place nasal packings and remove them after 48–72 hours. The removal of the packings may be very painful. The objective of this study was to evaluate the analgesic effectiveness of dipyrone, when given before the procedure in a placebo-controlled, randomised design. Thirty-eight patients undergoing septal surgery at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Ankara University were included in this study. Twelve patients did not get any analgesic treatment during removal (control group). Ten patients received 2 ml of intramuscular (i. m.) physiological saline solution (placebo group) and sixteen patients were pretreated with 1 g of i. m. dipyrone 45 min prior to the removal of the nasal packings (treatment group). Pain intensity was measured prior to the procedure, just after the packings were removed (0 min) and then at 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 60 and 120 min after the removal by using visual analogue scales, verbal scales and the percentage score. The groups were compared by using Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney tests. No significant difference in baseline pain scores was found before the procedure started. At 0, 5 and 10 min the dipyrone group showed significant lower pain intensity when compared to the control and placebo groups. Dipyrone was found to be effective in lowering initial pain intensity and in reducing it during the first 10 min after removal. We conclude that dipyrone is an effective agent when given before the procedure of removal of nasal packing-induced postprocedural pain.