International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences | May 2019 | Vol 7 | Issue 5 Page 1665 International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences Sugathan R et al. Int J Res Med Sci. 2019 May;7(5):1665-1669 www.msjonline.org pISSN 2320-6071 | eISSN 2320-6012 Original Research Article Efficacy of intracuff dexamethasone in reducing the incidence of post- operative sore throat: an original article Reshma Sugathan 1 , Sumesh Raj 2 * INTRODUCTION Postoperative sore throat is the most common and most distressing complaint of patients after general anaesthesia with cuffed endotracheal tube. About 80% of patients complain of sore throat after anaesthesia and surgery. Common causes include trauma to tonsillar pillars, pharynx and larynx, tracheal mucosal and ciliary damage and ulcerations from excessive cuff pressure. 1 Postoperative sore throat can be prevented by the use of low intracuff pressure, smaller- sized and steroid coated endotracheal tubes, use of inhalational steroids and topical lidocaine. 2 Dexamethasone is a potent synthetic glucocorticoid having anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant 1 Department of Anaesthesia, 2 Department of Internal Medicine, Sree Gokulam Medical College and Research Foundation, Trivandrum, Kerala, India Received: 04 December 2018 Accepted: 06 January 2019 *Correspondence: Dr. Sumesh Raj, E-mail: drsumeshraj@yahoo.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT Background: Postoperative sore throat is the most common and most distressing complaint of patients after general anaesthesia with cuffed endotracheal tube. By this study our aim was to assess the efficacy of intracuff dexamethasone in reducing the incidence of this distressing postoperative symptom. Methods: Patients were divided into two groups D and N depending on cuff filling with dexamethasone and normal saline respectively. The cuff was prefilled with dexamethasone or normal saline one hour prior to intubation to allow time for cuff to be saturated following which the cuff was deflated. General anaesthesia was administered and patients were intubated, and cuff inflated with drug according to group allocated. Patients were assessed and graded for sore throat using VAS scale both at rest and with swallowing. Assessment was done one hour, six, 12 and 24hours post operatively. Presence of hoarseness of voice and cough was assessed on a 2-point scale 0=absent and 1=present, 24hrs after surgery. Results: The incidence of sore throat at 24hours postoperative was reduced in group D than in group N. 4 patients (8%) in group D had sore throat while 27 patients (57%) in group N had sore throat at 24hours. This was statistically significant (p<0.05). The cough incidence was reduced in group D while there was no difference in incidence of hoarseness of voice between the two groups. Conclusions: Intracuff dexamethasone decreases the incidence of postoperative sore throat when compared to intracuff normal saline. Dexamethasone also reduces postoperative cough incidence but does not reduce the incidence of hoarseness of voice. Keywords: Cough, Dexamethasone, Intracuff, Normal saline, Postoperative, Sore throat DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20191655