J Anesth Perioper Med. 2015;2(1):22-28. https://doi.org/10.24015/ebcmed.japm.2015.0004
From the 1Department of Anesthesiology, Shanghai Pudong Hospital, Fudan University Pudong Medical Center, Shanghai, China; 2Department of Anesthesiology and intensive care, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.
*Bao-Ji Hu and Lu-Long Bo contributed equally to the article.
Correspondence to Dr. Xiao-Ming Deng at deng_x@yahoo.com.
EBCMED ID: ebcmed.japm.2015.0004 DOI: 10.24015/ebcmed.japm.2015.0004
Background
Postoperative sore throat (POST) is an undesirable complaint from patients undergoing general anesthesia. Dexamethasone, with its potent immunomodulatory effects, is used to reduce inflammation and tissue damage in a variety of clinical settings. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of dexamethasone on the incidence of POST systematically.
Methods
Two researchers searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Google scholar, World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, Chinese BioMedical Literature Database, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure for randomized controlled trials that compared dexamethasone in patients undergoing general anesthesia and reported the outcome of POST.
Results
Five studies with a total of 582 patients receiving dexamethasone or placebo were included. The pooled results revealed that patients receiving dexamethasone had a lower incidence of POST at 1 hour (relative risk [RR]=0.63, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.40- 0.98, P<0.05) and 24 hours (RR=0.42, 95% CI 0.30- 0.60, P<0.001) after surgery.
Conclusions
Prophylactic dexamethasone is effective in decreasing the incidence of POST after surgery relative to placebo.
Article Type
Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Declaration of Interests
All authors declare no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgements
Bao-Ji Hu and Lu-Long Bo defined inclusion and exclusion criteria, performed the electronic and manual search of the literature, and drafted and revised the manuscript. Jin-Bao Li contributed to data analysis, manuscript revision and the interpretation of the data with his expertise. Xiao-Ming Deng had full access to all of the data in the study, contributed to the interpretation of the results, and took responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.
We acknowledge all authors whose publications were included in this study.
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