Identifying the Risk Factors for Postoperative Sore Throat After Endotracheal Intubation for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

OBJECTIVE: To identify risk factors for postoperative sore throat (POST) after general anesthesia in oral and maxillOfacial surgery. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study is a retrospective cohort design study. We enrolled patients with oral and maxillofacial surgery who underwent endotracheal intubation under general anesthesia in the Stomatology Hospital, Zhejiang University School Of Medicine between April 2020 and April 2021. They were divided into the POST group and the without POST group. The distribution Of various characteristics in the two groups was firstly analyzed. Then, logistic regression analysis was performed to explore the independent predictors for POST occurrence. Following this, logistic regression and random forest models were constructed and their performance was evaluated to predict POST occurrence. RESULTS: A total of 891 participants were enrolled in the study. Female gender and cough during extubation were significantly associated with increased POST occurrence in multivariate analysis (all P <0.05). Stratified logistic regression analysis results showed that the female gender was an independent predictor for POST occurrence in the 4≤age≤14 and 14<age≤60 groups after adjusting all the covariates, while cough during extubation independently predicted POST in the age>60 group after adjusting American Society of Anesthesiologists status and throat and lung disease (all P <0.05). The logistic regression model had a similar effect to the random forest model in predicting POST occurrence. Interestingly, the female gender had a higher important weight compared to the cough during extubation. CONCLUSION: This research reveals female gender and cough during extubation as potential risk factors for POST occurrence, which may provide guidance for the effective prevention of POST in oral and maxillofacial surgery.