Background: Fentanyl-induced cough is a common difficulty encountered at induction of anesthesia. Various interventions both pharmacological and non-pharmacological have been used to prevent this side effect including dexamethasone and propofol.

Aim: To compare the effectiveness of dexamethasone and propofol to prevent fentanyl-induced cough at the induction of general anesthesia.

Study design: Randomized controlled trial.

Place and duration of study: Department of Anaesthesiology, Surgical ICU & Pain Management, Dow University of Health Sciences and Civil Hospital Karachi from 16th September 2011 to 15th March, 2012.

Methodology: One hundred patients who underwent elective surgical procedure were selected. Patients were randomized in two groups of 50 patients each; Group D was given intravenous dexamethasone; whereas patients of group P received intravenous propofol as the premedication before induction. The main outcome measure was effectiveness of both drugs to prevent fentanyl-induced cough.

Results: Majority of patients (40%) were between 20-30 years of age group with mean age was 35.80±10.14 years. Males were more than females. Intravenous dexamethasone was significantly effective (90%) than intravenous propofol (70%) [p=0.012].

Conclusion: Intravenous dexamethasone is effective in reducing fentanyl-induced cough in comparison to propofol. Keywords: Dexamethasone, Propofol, Fentanyl-induced cough (FIC)