Management of post-operative sore throat in patients undergoing endotracheal intubation: literature review

Abstract

Postoperative sore throat (POST) is a common complaint that is classified as the 8th most undesirable events after general anesthesia. Endotracheal intubation has been estimated to be the commonest factor causing POST. We aim to review the risk factors and preventive measures to reduce the incidence and severity of POST following endotracheal intubation. Although sore throat can be induced by many perioperative factors, endotracheal intubation remains the commonest cause that can induce endothelial injury and a subsequent sore throat. Many risk factors for this association has been reported. The most common risk factors include ages less than 60 years of age, female sex, cough, and asthma, underlying chest diseases, type and timing of the operation, type, and size of the used endotracheal tube. Moreover, the experience of the personnel intubating the patients may have been another risk factor. Medical prevention of POST can be achieved by several agents as steroids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists, careful monitoring of the tracheal cuff pressure, and licorice application. On the other hand, using lidocaine has been contraindicated according to previous meta-analysis results. Additionally, we recommend that future studies with bigger sample sizes are should be conducted for further validation of the new modalities.

Magnitude and Factors Associated with post-operative Sore Throat Among Adult Surgical Patients Undergoing General Anesthesia at a Tertiary Care Institution, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

“…But the relation is contradictory; including age (Compared to younger patients, older patients had more POST [4,24]. In contrast other studies showed greater incidence in younger patients as compared to older counterparts [9,14]; sex (higher in female than males [4,5,9,10,[33][34][35]. Unlike the mentioned researches, this study showed no significant association between POST and three socio-demographic factors (age, sex and BMI).…”

“…A number of factors, some avoidable, influence the incidence and extent of postoperative sore throat, but it is unlikely that this problem will ever be completely eliminated [5]. Overall; Instrumentation of the airway is an inherent risk factor for the development POST [9] . It is widely accepted that some complications related delivery of anesthesia care is inevitable.…”

“…Post operative sore-throat has several risk factors that include demographic features as well as clinical aspects. Factors contributing to the development of POST includes female sex, duration of anesthesia, presence of a blood-stained tracheal tube on extubation [4,11], prolonged intubation [11], larger size endotracheal tubes [7], guedel airway [8], age below 65 years old [9] and high intra-cuff pressure [12]. This study was conducted by considering the population of study area is different from others and the studies that was done have a limitation on studying severity and timing of POST, cases sampled (elective and emergency), data collection procedures (single time vs follow up) and various factors related to patient, anesthesia and surgery that may contribute to POST were assessed in this study.…”