ISSN: 2155-6148
Dugo Angasa*, Negeso Gobena, Biniyam Seyoum
Background: Postoperative sore throat is a common complaint by patients after general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation, which contributes to postoperative morbidity and patient dissatisfaction following general anesthesia. A problem of postoperative pharyngeal discomfort is so prevalent that it is almost expected by patients and anesthesiologist or anesthetist like as an unavoidable part of routine anesthesia. Complaints range from a minor throat irritation to severe pain, inability to swallow and temporary voice changes.
Objective: This study aims to determine the incidence and associated risk factors of postoperative sore throat following general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation.
Method and materials: Cross sectional study design was used to conduct this study among 95 patients who underwent general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation from November 1st to December 1st, 2013 E.C at Hawassa university comprehensive specialized hospital, Hawassa, Southern Ethiopia. Data was collected by fourth year anesthesia students using structured questionnaire prepared on variables being measured and analyzed using SPSS version 20.
Results: Out of 95 study subjects who had general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation, 29 of study participants (30.5%) complained various forms of post-operative sore throat. In this study, we found that size of Endotracheal intubation and size of laryngoscope blade showed statistically significant association with the post-operative sore throat with the size of ETT (p-value=0.01, AOR=3.291, 95% CI=1.658, 6.531) Size of laryngoscope blade (p-value=0.03, AOR=0.15, 95% CI=0.14, 0.18).
Conclusion: The result of this study showed that the larger the size of ETT and laryngoscope blade, the higher the incidence of postoperative sore throat. Even though endotracheal intubation is mandatory for good airway protection during surgical procedures, we recommend using the smaller ETT size (6 mm, 6.5 mm ID) and smaller laryngoscope blade (size 2, size 3).