POSTOPERATIVE SORE THROAT AFTER ELECTIVE SURGICAL PROCEDURES

Authors

  • Aliya Ahmed
  • Shemaila Abbasi
  • Hasham Bin Ghafoor
  • Muhammad Ishaq

Abstract

Background: Postoperative sore throat is a common complication of anaesthesia and can lead todissatisfaction after surgery. Many factors can contribute to postoperative sore throat and theincidence varies with the method of airway management Methods: In this prospectiveobservational study elective gynaecological and general surgical patients were interviewed 24hours postoperatively to determine the presence of sore throat. Information collected includeddemographic data, surgical procedure, duration of surgery, airway device used and position ofpatient during surgery. This study was done over a period of 3 months. Results: 312 patients wereinterviewed. 81(26%) patients suffered with sore throat postoperatively. 28% of patients withendotracheal intubation (ETT) and 3.5% of patients with laryngeal mask airway had a sore throat.Female patients reported more sore throat than male patients (27.1% vs. 19.1%). Sore throat wasfound to be more common with older age group, grade of difficulty in intubation, duration ofsurgery and patient’s position during surgery. Conclusion: Awareness of the factors responsiblefor increased incidence of postoperative sore throat and appropriate care especially duringendotracheal intubation can help to reduce the incidence of postoperative sore throat.Keywords: Anaesthetic complications; Postoperative; Sore throat

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