How long can packing stay in after sinus surgery?
Most sinus surgeries do not involve any packing that needs to be removed. There will nearly always be small, absorbable packing placed into the ethmoid sinus cavities. You will not even know the packing is present, and it will absorb over the two-week period after surgery. In about one in one hundred patients, due to excessive bleeding during surgery, packing will be placed at the end of the surgical procedure and removed the day after surgery. Some sinus surgeons routinely pack the nose after sinus surgery. Some sinus surgeons place a splint onto the nasal septum after septoplasty. Ask your surgeon about the use of packing during your pre-operative consultation. All experienced sinus surgeons remember the day when packing was placed for five days post-operatively, the good ole days of nasal surgery. Memories of the old days remind me why most patients dreaded sinus surgery. Unfortunately, stories from others who had surgery performed in the good ole days prevent many others from under
