This prospective, controlled study investigated the effect on patient anxiety of lidocaine infiltration into nasal packing following septoplasty.

The study included 50 patients who underwent septoplasty operation. Patient anxiety levels were measured 24 hours pre-operatively; 48 hours post-operatively, before saline or lidocaine infiltration; and 15 minutes after lidocaine or saline infiltration into the packing. The patients were asked to mark their level of pain during pack removal on a visual analogue scale.

Hamilton Anxiety Scale scores for lidocaine infiltration patients were: 15.1 ± 7.4 pre-operatively; 16 ±7.6 post-operatively, before infiltration; and 13.7 ± 6.6 at 15 minutes after infiltration. The scores for saline infiltration patients were: 16.3 ± 6.8 pre-operatively, 16.4 ± 5.5 before infiltration and 16.1 ± 6.1 after infiltration. The visual analogue scale pain score was 5.3 ± 2.0 in the lidocaine study group and 7.5 ± 1.8 in the control saline group.

Infiltration of lidocaine into nasal packing significantly reduced patient pain. Patients developed mild to moderate anxiety before nasal packing removal. Use of techniques without nasal packing can be recommended after septoplasty to ease patient post-operative discomfort.