BACKGROUND:

Postoperative sore throat (POST) is defined as pain or discomfort in the throat following general anesthesia. Throat packs are used by many surgical subspecialties for different benifits, however they may increase the incidence of POST. Many interventions can be used to decrease incidence of POST. Triamcinolone acetonide (TA) is a moderately potent topical corticosteroid preparation. In this study, we hypothesized that soaking the throat pack with TA may decrease POST.

METHODS AND MATERIAL:

This prospective interventional comparative study was performed on 54 patients planned for Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgeries (FEES) surgery. After endotracheal intubation, a standard length of oro-pharyngeal pack was placed, then patients were randomly allocated into: Group I: Oro-pharyngeal packs were soaked with 15 mg Triamcinolone acetonide 0.1% and Group II: packs were soaked with the same volume of lubricating gel (K-Y gel®).

The patients were postoperatively asked about:

sore throat, dysphagia, hoarseness of voice and nausea and vomiting.

RESULTS:

Thirty minutes and 24 hours after extubation, Group I patients showed lower but statistically insignificant sore throat scores. Two to six hours after extubation, Group I showed a statistically significant reduction in sore throat scores. Six patients suffered dysphagia in group I compared with 8 patients in group II. Hoarseness of voice occurred in 1 patient in group I and 3 patients in group II. No patient complained of nausea or vomiting.

cONCLUSIÓN:

Soaking oropharyngeal pack with triamcinolone acetonide in orabase gel was able to decrease POST in FESS patients.