The Assessment of Sore Throat Following Nasotracheal Intubation

Abstract

To the Editor: In a recent study comparing a number of characteristics of nasotracheal intubation using either videolaryngoscopy with a Glidescope or direct laryngoscopy, the authors conclude that GlideScope videolaryngoscope nasotracheal intubation demonstrated an important reduction in the incidence of moderate or severe postoperative sore throat.1 However, standardization of postoperative analgesia is a crucial component of study-design, when comparing postoperative pain between groups. The type and dose of analgesia and the timing of its administration in relation to the assessment of sore throat on the first postoperative day, should have been described in their methods. In addition, the clinician assessing postoperative pain should be blinded to the method of nasotracheal intubation. In the absence of a postoperative analgesic protocol, the secondary outcome findings and their subsequent conclusions should be interpreted with caution, as they may have been determined using incomplete methodology. Oliver W. Masters, FRCA Department of Anesthesia University Hospital Birmingham, UK Jeffrey L. Tong, MB ChB, FRCA Department of Military Anesthesia and Critical Care Royal Centre for Defence Medicine Birmingham, UK [email protected]