Evaluation of effect of dexamethasone and bicarbonate as adjuvants to intracuff lignocaine on endotracheal tube tolerance during emergence and incidence of postoperative cough and sore throat

Background: Smooth uneventful extubation and prevention of postoperative complications such as cough and sore throat adds to the quality of perioperative care and patient outcome. This study was designed to compare tube tolerance and hemodynamics during extubation, as well as the incidence of postoperative cough and sore throat, in patients operated under general anesthesia of more than 2-h duration. Materials and Methods: This prospective double-blinded, randomized controlled study included 100 patients posted for elective surgical procedures with expected duration of more than 2 h, under general anesthesia. Patients were divided randomly into two equal groups, namely Group A and Group B. In Group A, endotracheal tube (ETT) cuff was filled with lignocaine with sodium bicarbonate as an adjuvant, while in Group B, dexamethasone was added as an adjuvant to intracuff lignocaine. ETT tolerance at the time of extubation was recorded and compared. Other parameters such as rate pressure product, volume of drug diffused through cuff, and incidence of postoperative cough and sore throat were also compared. Data analysis was done using unpaired t-test and Chi-square test as appropriate, where P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Eighty-two percent of patients in Group A while 78% of patients in Group B were categorized as tube tolerant during extubation (P = 0.62). The incidence of postextubation sore throat at 1 h was 30% versus 16% (P = 0.09) while at 24 h was 20% versus 6% (P = 0.03) in Group A and Group B, respectively. The incidence of cough postextubation at 1 h was 6% versus 0 (P = 0.07) while at 24 h was 18% versus 4% (P = 0.02) in Group A and Group B, respectively. The volume of intracuff drug diffused during anesthesia was 0.71 ± 0.27 (mean ± standard deviation [SD]) ml in Group A and 0.5 ± 0.23 (mean ± SD) ml in Group B (P = 0.02). Majority of patients (>85%) in both the groups remained hemodynamic stable during emergence with no statistical difference between the groups. Conclusion: Both bicarbonate and dexamethasone as an adjuvant to 2% intracuff lignocaine offer smooth emergence in terms of tube tolerance and hemodynamic stability during extubation. However, dexamethasone when used as an adjuvant has a better effect on prevention of development of postoperative cough and sore throat.