Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Background: Postoperative sore throat is a common occurrence following general anaesthesia and, although clinicians often regard it as a relatively minor complication, patients perceive avoidance as being of great importance. The present study was conducted to compare ketamine nebulisation with ketamine gargle in attenuating post-operative sore throat. Materials & Methods: 74 patients age ranged 20-60 year were divided into 2 groups of 37 each was done. Group I patients received preservative free ketamine 50mg in 29 ml of saline, gargled for 30 seconds and group II patients received ketamine 50 mg in 4ml of normal saline via nebulisation for 15 min. Postoperatively sore throat was assessed at 0, 4, 24 hrs using four- point scale (0-3). Results: The mean age in group I was 40.2 years and in group II was 40.5 years. There were 20 males and 17 females in group I and 198 males and 19 females in group II. Mean weight was 57.2 Kgs in group I and 55.4 Kgs in group II. Duration of anesthesia was 124.2 minutes in group I and 125.3 minutes in group II. The difference was non- significant (P> 0.05). POST was seen in 10 and 7, 7 and 4 and 4 and 2 at 0 hours, 4 hours and 24 hours in group I and II respectively. The difference was non- significant (P> 0.05). Conclusion: Pre-operative ketamine nebulisation is comparable with ketamine gargle in reducing the incidence and severity of post-operative sore throat.