Anesthesia & Clinical Research
Open Access
ISSN: 2155-6148
ISSN: 2155-6148
Sara Haider Malik
Pakistan
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Anesth Clin Res
Background & Aim: Endotracheal intubation is one of the basic prerequisites of general anesthesia. Recovery
of patients is delayed due to the development of post-operative nausea, vomiting, sore throat and shivering.
This study was conducted to determine role of dexamethasone for improved recovery of patients.
Methods: This randomized controlled trial was performed in the Department of Anesthesia, Ayub Teaching
Hospital, Abbottabad from June to November 2018. 112 consenting patients of both genders, aged between
18 to 60 years, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) I and II, scheduled for general surgeries of
60 minutes to 180 minutes duration under general anesthesia were included. Patients with long duration
surgeries, anticipated difficult airways, nasogastric tube in situ, upper respiratory tract infections, on steroid
therapy and critically ill and emergency surgeries were excluded. They were randomly allocated into two
groups by lottery method as dexamethasone (Group-A, n=61) or Placebo (Group-B, n=61). Post-operative
nausea, vomiting, sore throat were observed at 2, 12 and 24 hours, shivering was observed at 2 hours only and
patient satisfaction at 24 hours post-operatively.
Results: Group-A patients had statistically proven better outcomes at 2, 12 and 24 hours for post-operative
sore throat, nausea and vomiting, shivering was controlled in 24.5% p-value (0.006). Patient satisfaction was
found in 83.6% of Group-A patients.
Conclusion: Thus dexamethasone is effective drug for prevention of postoperative nausea, vomiting, sore throat
and shivering in general surgical procedures thus improving patient satisfaction and their early discharge.