• Azim Honarmand, Mohammadreza Safavi, and Farnaz Khalighinejad.
• Anesthesiology and Critical Care Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
• Adv Biomed Res. 2013 Jan 1; 2: 60.

BackgroundThe injection of remifentanil can cause cough during induction of anesthesia. This study was designed to examine the efficacy of ketamine, dexamethasone, and their combination on remifentanil-induced cough (RIC).Materials And MethodsONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY PATIENTS SCHEDULED FOR ELECTIVE SURGERY WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED INTO FOUR GROUPS: Group K received 10 mg ketamine; Group D received 10 mg dexamethasone; Group KD received 10 mg ketamine in combination with dexamethasone; and Group S received saline in a similar volume, five minutes prior to the injection of remifentanil. The incidence and severity of the cough was recorded in each person.ResultsThe incidence of RIC was significantly lower in Group KD compared to Group K, Group D, and Group S (3.3 vs. 20%, 20%, and 46.7%, respectively, P < 0.05). The severity of RIC was significantly lower in Group KD compared to Group K, Group D, and Group S (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between Group K and Group D in this regard (P > 0.05). There was no significant difference in the onset time of coughing among the four groups (19.8 ± 1.3, 20.8 ± 0.9, 19.0 ± 1.1, and 19.9 ± 2.2 in Group K, Group D, Group KD, and Group S, respectively, P > 0.05).ConclusionWe found that pretreatment with 10 mg ketamine in combination with 10 mg dexamethasone five minutes prior to the injection of remifentanil could significantly reduce the incidence of RIC, and it was better than using each drug singly.

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