Incidence and risk factors for postoperative sore throat after general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation: prospective cohort study

Postoperative sore throat (POST) is a common, unpleasant, and upsetting complication of tracheal intubation that increases postoperative morbidity and causes patient dissatisfaction after general anaesthesia. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence and risk factors of POST following endotracheal intubation under general anaesthesia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From 20 April to 20 May 2021, a multicenter prospective cohort study design and systematic random sampling were used to select study participants from patients over the age of 18 who underwent anaesthesia-assisted surgery with endotracheal intubation. A structured questionnaire was developed after reading some of the relevant literature. SPSS version 20 was used to enter and analyze the data, and binary logistic regression was used to select a variable for multivariable logistic regression. To identify statistically significant factors, a P value of 0.05 for the association between the independent and dependent variables was used in multivariable analysis. RESULTS: Sore throat occurred in 94 (61.8%) of the 152 patients who had undergone surgery under general anaesthesia with endotracheal intubation. The size of the endotracheal intubation was found to have a p value of 0.04, (adjusted odds ratio 0.04, 95% CI 0.002–0.79), and the duration of the anaesthesia was found to have a p value of 0.003, (adjusted odds ratio 4.5, 95% CI 1.66–12.18). The POST was associated with a large endotracheal tube, patient age, and an extended period of anaesthesia in this study, with a prevalence of 94 (61.8%) cases. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION: In this study, the incidence of POST was high 94 (61.8%), large size endotracheal tube, patient age, and duration of anaesthesia were associated factors for POST. Awareness creation through training based on research findings should be made about the problem for all health professionals who were involved in postoperative patient care.