Sridevi Boddu1, Chenna Kesava Swamy Kakaraparthi2
BACKGROUND
Although post-operative sore throat, cough and hoarseness of voice (HOV) are
minor sequelae after general anaesthesia (GA), these can be troublesome to the
patient. This study was done to compare the efficacy of betamethasone gel and
lignocaine jelly as lubricants in reducing post-operative sore throat and hoarseness
of voice in patients operated under general anaesthesia with orotracheal
intubation.
METHODS
This interventional study compares the incidence of post-operative sore throat and
hoarseness of voice after endotracheal intubation on applying betamethasone gel
(betamethasone group) or lignocaine jelly (lignocaine group) on the tracheal tube.
120 American Society of Anaesthesiologist (ASA) class I and class II patients who
had undergone elective surgeries under general anaesthesia were divided into two
groups: betamethasone group and lignocaine group. All patients were enquired
on post-operative sore throat and hoarseness of voice at 1, 6 and 24 hours after
extubation in the post-anaesthesia care unit.
RESULTS
The incidence of no sore throat, mild, moderate and severe post-operative sore
throat at 24 hours after extubation in betamethasone group was 75.0 %, 23.3 %,
1.7 % and 0 % respectively compared to lignocaine group which was 33.3 %,
53.3 %, 6.7 % and 6.7 % respectively (P value < 0.05). The incidence of sore
throat was found lower in the betamethasone group than in lignocaine group at
intervals 1, 6, 24 hours post extubation with P value < 0.05. The incidence of no
HOV, grade 1 HOV, grade 2 HOV and grade 3 HOV in betamethasone group was
46.7 %, 48.3 %, 5.0 % and 0 % respectively compared to lignocaine group which
was 25.0 %, 46.7 %, 25.0 % and 3.3 % respectively with P value < 0.05.
CONCLUSIONS
This study proves that betamethasone gel, when used for lubrication of
endotracheal tube pre-operatively, has shown to be effective in decreasing postoperative
sore throat and hoarseness of voice.
