Evaluation of the effect of intratracheal ketamine on sore throat after intubation in patients undergoing strabismus surgery

Sore throat after endotracheal intubation during general anesthesia is a common complaint of patients especially in children. Strabismus surgery in one of the common procedures in child patients. The present study investigates the use of intratracheal ketamine administration in reducing sore throat after strabismus surgery.

This study was performed on 60 patients undergoing elective strabismus surgery under general anesthesia from December 2019 to February 2020 in Farabi eye hospital, Tehran University of medical sciences, Tehran, Iran. These cases were referred to our center for strabismus operation from other centers of our country. Patients were randomly divided into two equal groups. After sufficient depth of anesthesia with sevoflurane and injection of fentanyl, endotracheal intubation was performed. In the control group, the endotracheal tube was inserted and 2 ml of ketamine solution at a concentration of 5 mg/ml were administered in endotracheal tube. The severity of sore throat, length of stay in recovery, incidence of delirium in recovery, satisfaction of recovery nurses and their parents and other complications were compared between the two groups.

Mean age, sex and weight were not significantly different between the two groups and were comparable. The mean duration of stay in recovery was higher in the case group than in the control group. The mean postoperative sore throat was significantly higher in the control group. Moreover, the mean incidence of delirium in the postoperative phase was higher in the case group. Besides, the rate of nurse satisfaction in the control group was higher than the case group. The incidence of bronchospasm, laryngospasm, and postoperative nausea and vomiting was not significantly different between the two groups.

Intratracheal ketamine can reduce postoperative sore throat and the need for postoperative analgesic medications. Postoperative complications were not increased with this strategy, but the length of recovery stay increased in these patients.