Post-operative sore throat (POST) is a common complication of endotracheal intubation. It ranges from 21 to 71.8 %. Various factors contribute to the development of POST, like, female sex, smoking, intubation difficulty and Suxamethonium use, high endotracheal cuff pressure, airway suctioning, long duration of surgery, mucosal injury with laryngoscopy, or pharyngeal airway use and larger size endotracheal tubes [9]. POST has also been associated with laryngeal masks, injury with laryngoscopy, or pharyngeal airway use and larger size endotracheal tubes. Basically it is mucosal damage of the throat and trachea which releases inflammatory mediators and produces soreness. POST leads to postoperative dissatisfaction. Patients of POST are uncontended following general anesthesia. Its preemptive amelioration, has been studied using various pharmacological interventions. The list includes, but is not limited to, Benzydamine hydrochloride (BH), aspirin, ketamine, lidocaine and dexamethasone. There is limited evidence based literature available about the incidence of POST in the investigator's locality in the country. The investigators plan to collect data in General OT of Rehman Medical institute (RMI), Peshawar. The city of Peshawar is the largest city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province of Pakistan, having a population of approximately 2 million. The objectives of our study is to know the magnitude of the problem and ascertain factors associated with postoperative sore throat among patients undergoing elective surgery under general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation.
Postoperative sore throat is a distressing but frequent symptom presented by the patients on the floor upon awakening from General Anesthesia, where endotracheal intubation is part of the Anesthetic protocol. Its incidence ranges between 21-71.8%. Good skills and availability of trained staff to cause minimal tissue damage are expected to reduce the incidence. Risks factors associated will be analyzed.