Effect of Warm Saline Solution Gargle on Sore Throat after Extubation in Open Heart Surgery Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Sore throat is one of the most common complications of endotracheal intubation, which interferes with patient's normal breathing and oral feeding process. This may ultimately delay the patient's discharge from the hospital. The aim of this study was to determine effect of warm normal saline solution gargling on sore throat in open heart surgery patients after estuation.

This clinical trial was performed in 2016 on 60 patients undergoing open heart surgery at the Amir Al-Momenin Hospital in Kordkoy, Northeast of Iran. The subjects were selected by convenience sampling method and randomly assigned to an intervention and a control group. Patients with sore throat were assessed using the Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NPRS 0–10) one hour after endotracheal tube removal and then every 6 hours for 24 hours. An overall score of zero, 1-3, 4-6, and 6-10 indicated no pain, mild pain, moderate pain, and severe pain, respectively. Data were analyzed with SPSS (version 18) using the Shapiro–Wilk test, independent t-test, Fisher's exact test, Chi-square test, and Friedman test. All analyses were carried out at significance of 0.05.

At the beginning of the study, there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of age, sex, ethnicity, history of addiction, and sore throat severity (p> 0.05). Six hours after the intervention, pain intensity did not differ significantly between the two groups (p <0.05). However, pain intensity was significantly lower in the intervention group compared with the control group 12, 18, and 24 hours after the intervention (p<0.001).

The results indicate that warm normal saline solution gargling after removal of the endotracheal tube is a practical, simple, and cheap approach to relieve sore throat in patients undergoing open heart surgery.