Introduction & Objective: Sore-throat and hoarseness are the most common complication after endotracheal intubation which take place 12-24 hr after operation. Different studies have reported the incidence of these complications between 24-90%. Increase of heat on the trachea will raise the blood pressure in the local capillaries and therefore induce better blood supplementation to the local tissues. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of local heat on the incidence of sore- throat and hoarseness after endotracheal intubations.
Materials & Methods: One hundred and sixty patients aging 15 -50 years old, candidate for elective surgeries under general anesthesia, were randomly divided into two groups. Patients for head and neck surgeries were excluded from the study. Methods of intubation, type, size, cuff pressure of ETT, method of anesthesia and time of operation were the same for all patients. During the operation time, local heat was applied on the external surface of trachea (up to 40 0C) by using electrical blanket for the patients in the study group. 24 hr after operation all the patients were visited by anesthesiologist for evaluating the sore- throat and hoarseness.
Results: The incidence of sore-throat in the control group was 65% versus 40% in the study group (p<0.05). Moreover the incidence of hoarseness was 66.2% in the control group versus 10% in the case group.
Conclusion: Application of local heat (40 0C) on the external surface of trachea can effectively decreases the incidence of postoperative sore - throat and hoarseness.