Postoperative sore throat is a common complaint and an undesirable outcome. It is often a side effect of general anesthesia, reported by 30% to 70% of patients following tracheal intubation. Despite advancements in laryngoscopy equipment, postoperative sore throat remains a common issue, requiring additional pharmacological interventions and negatively affecting patient satisfaction. This highlights the continued need for effective strategies to tackle this challenge in clinical practice. This study is a retrospective cohort analysis involving 101 patients who underwent elective plastic surgery with orotracheal intubation under general anesthesia. The research compares the incidence of postoperative sore throat, hoarseness, and cough, as well as coughing upon emergence from anesthesia, between two types of lubricated endotracheal tubes: one coated with a gel containing 0.05% betamethasone, 2% lidocaine, and 1% tetracaine, and another with 2% lidocaine jelly. At the 8-hour mark after extubation, the incidence of postoperative sore throat was significantly lower in the experimental group at 17.6%, compared to 58% in the 2% lidocaine jelly group (P<0.001). Over the 24-hour evaluation, the experimental group consistently showed a lower incidence of postoperative sore throat at all measured time points. The 2% lidocaine group had an OR 2.0 CI 95% (1.48-2.93), 2.28 CI 95% (1.54-3.3), and 2.4 CI 95% (1.64-3.5) for postoperative sore throat at post-anesthesia care unit, 8 hours and 24 hours after surgery evaluation respectively. Our research highlights the potential benefits of applying a gel that contains corticosteroids and local anesthetics to the tracheal tube. This application may help reduce postoperative complications associated with tracheal intubation, including sore throat, coughing, irritation from the tube, and hoarseness.
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