Do oropharyngeal throat packs prevent fluid ingestion during orthognathic surgery?

The oropharyngeal throat pack is commonly used in oral and maxillofacial surgery despite debated evidence regarding its barrier function. The study objectives were to investigate whether the oropharyngeal pack reduces blood ingestion and to evaluate its relationship with postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) and throat pain. This was a single-center, parallel group, single-blind randomized controlled trial. Participants undergoing orthognathic surgery, age >/=16 years, were included in the study. After intubation and prior to surgery start, the treatment group received oropharyngeal packing; the control group received no packing. Outcome variables were the quality of gastric contents aspirated by nasogastric tube (bloody or not bloody), PONV, and throat pain (visual analog scale). Thirty patients (treatment n = 15; control n = 15) were randomized and analyzed. There was no difference between the groups in quality of gastric contents (P = 1.00) or incidence of PONV at 2 hours and 24 hours (P = 1.00). Throat pain incidence and severity at 2 hours were both higher in the treatment group, but this was not statistically significant (P = 0.128, P = 0.223). The results indicate that the oropharyngeal pack is not an effective barrier against blood ingestion. Oropharyngeal packs do not improve or worsen PONV, but may increase throat pain.