English

Abstract

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. KEYWORDS Betamethasone, Lignocaine, Sore Throat, Hoarseness of Voice, Endotracheal Intubation