Comment: Sore throat is a common complaint after airway manipulation, and its incidence varies widely from 6%1 to 90%2 in intubated patients. Indeed, in this study the incidence of sore throat in intubated patients was 40%. Sore throat also occurs postoperatively in nonintu-bated patients, with an incidence ranging from 0 to 20% in assorted studies.3,4 The current investigation by Weksler et al. reported a 15% incidence of sore throat in patients whose airway was maintained with a laryngeal mask. This incidence is similar to that described by others5,6 in studies involving the laryngeal mask in which tile form of airway manipulation was not the sole variable that could be implicated in the genesis of postoperative sore throat. It is, for example, important to appreciate that pharyngeal trauma induced by stiff, nonvented suction tubes, by nasogastric tubes, and by a Guedel airway can all contribute to this complication. Although sore throat is the most common complication of tracheal intubation, more serious complications such as laryngeal and subglottic trauma, arytenoid dislocation, and perforation of the pharynx and mediastinitis can occur. Indeed, even the “minor” complication of sore throat can produce considerable discomfort that is not well tolerated, especially in the ambulatory patient who had anticipated an early return to work postoperatively. In properly selected patients with no risk factors for aspiration, the laryngeal mask airway may offer the possibility of a more benign postoperative course in terms of incidence and severity of sore throat.