• Kamal Kajal, Divya Dharmu, Ishwar Bhukkal, Sandhya Yaddanapudi, Shiv Lal Soni, Mukesh Kumar, and Ankush Singla.
• Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
• Anesth Essays Res. 2019 Jul 1; 13 (3): 572-576.

ContextPostoperative sore throat (POST) is a frequent and undesirable complication after general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation. Various pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods with variable success rate are used for attenuating POST. However, no single drug has been universally accepted.AimsTo compare the effect of betamethasone gel, ketamine gargles and intravenous dexamethasone on the incidence and severity of POST.Settings And DesignProspective randomized controlled single-blinded trial conducted at a tertiary care centre.Materials And MethodsA total of 100 patients of age 18 to 70 yr, ASA class I and II, scheduled for elective surgeries under general anaesthesia were included and divided randomly in betamethasone, dexamethasone, ketamine and control groups. Endotracheal tubes were lubricated with 0.05% betamethasone gel in betamethasone group, 0.2 mg/kg of dexamethasone was administered intravenously before induction of anaesthesia in dexamethasone group, 40 mg of ketamine gargles mixed with 30 ml of saline was given 5 minutes prior to induction in ketamine group. In the control group, none of the above agents were used. During the 24 hr after the operation, we noted the occurrence and severity of POST, cough and hoarseness.Statistical Analysis UsedThe demographic data, surgical time and intubation among the groups were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance. Incidence and severity of POST, cough and hoarseness of voice among the groups were analyzed utilizing Chi-square test.ResultsIncidence of POST at one hour was found to be significantly less in betamethasone group (16%) and dexamethasone group (20%) in comparison to the control group (48%). The incidence of POST at 4 hours and 24 hours were found to be comparable. The frequency of hoarseness and cough at 1 hour, 4 hour and 24 hours were similar in all the groups.ConclusionsProphylactic betamethasone gel application and intravenous dexamethasone administration before induction of anaesthesia resulted in clinically important and statistically significant decreases in the incidence of POST only in early postoperative period.Copyright: © 2019 Anesthesia: Essays and Researches.

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