We perform nasal surgery without nasal pack in most of the cases.

When people hear about a nasal surgery, one of the first things that come to mind is the miserable feeling of having your nose packed for a few days after the procedure and the extreme discomfort and pain when the packs have to be removed.

When I first began practice about 12 years ago, I did what I was taught to do by more senior surgeons during training: I packed the nose routinely after a Nasal procedure. The reason is to prevent blood from accumulating between the two layers of the septum and to prevent bleeding.

The technique I learned in the States is to use a small needle and a quilting suture to go back and forth from one side to the other. This quilting suture is what keeps the mucous membrane layer pressed together. It takes some extra time to do, but it's well worth it for the patient's sake.

Besides the discomfort issue, the other main reason for doing this is that I realized that blocking your nose even to a small degree can aggravate apneas. Studies have shown that nasal congestion can significantly increase your rate of obstructions and arousals. 

If you underwent a nasal procedure in the past, what was your experience? Was your nose packed?