Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of two-different doses of prophylactic dexamethasone intravenous administration in reducing the prevalence of postoperative sore throat following general endotracheal anesthesia.
Material and method: All patients (105 cases) of different procedures of elective surgery scheduled to have general anesthesia performed with endotracheal intubations were included. The subjects randomized into three pre-operative intravenous substance/drug administrations, group I (35 cases) with normal saline 2 ml, group II (35 cases) with dexamethasone 4 mg, and group III (35 cases) with dexamethasone 8 mg, respectively. The prevalence of sore throat and its severity was assessed, using visual analogue scale (VAS), scores of O to 10; 0 = no pain, and 10 = most severe pain.
Results: Among three groups, the duration of surgery, and intubation-induced trauma had no statistical significance. The prevalence of sore throat at 1-hour/24-hour postoperative was 48.6/48.6%, 54.3/28.6%, and 54.3/42.9% in group I, II, and III respectively, and without statistical significance.
Conclusion: The intravenous dexamethasone had no significant effectiveness against postoperatively sore throat after endotracheal intubation.