Comparative study between ketamine versus betamethasone gargles in attenuating post-operative sore throat after endotracheal intubation

Abstract

: Postoperative sore throat (POST) is a commonly encountered side effect which causes patient discomfort after airway instrumentation during general anesthesia (GA). This study was conducted to investigate the efficacy of preop­erative gargling with Ketamine, a NMDA receptor an­tagonist and Betamethasone gargles, a steroidal anti inflammatory drug in reducing POST in patients being intubated for surgery under GA. This was a randomized, single blinded, prospective study conducted after obtaining the Institutional Ethics Committee approval. 90 patients undergoing surgery under GA with endotracheal intubation were enrolled in the study after obtaining written informed consent from all. They were further divided into 3 groups; group B, group K and group C who received Betamethasone gargles, Ketamine gargles and Dextrose Saline gargles respectively, 5 minutes before GA. Results obtained were compared statistically by using Kruskal-Wallis test, which showed significant difference between median POST grading. The Mann-Whitney U test was used for the statistical intergroup analysis. There was no statistical difference among groups as far as age, height, weight by using ANOVA test; p value > 0.05. Age of patients varied between 16-60 years in three groups. The severity of sore throat were noticeably reduced after Ketamine, Betamethasone gargles in group K and group B (p < 0.05) as compared to group C when statistically analysed by Mann-Whitney U test. But Betamethasone gargles in group B patients more efficiently reduced the incidence, severity of sore throat compared to Ketamine gargles (p<0.05) during postoperative period. The incidence & severity of POST decreased with use of pre-operative Ketamine gargles or Betamethasone gargles during post-operative period in patients with tracheal intubation. The Betamethasone gargles were more effective than Ketamine gargles in reducing the incidence, severity of POST.