Aim: To compare the incidence of sore throat in the initial postoperative period with dexamethasone and saline in patients enduring general anaesthesia with endotracheal intubation for abdominal and gynaecological surgeries.

Study design: A Randomized controlled trial

Place and Duration: In the departments of Anesthesia and Gynaecology Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre Karachi for six-months duration from July 2021 to December 2021.

Methodology: 130 patients planned for abdominal and gynaecological surgery on elective lists under general anesthesia were included. The two groups of the patients were formed and patients were equally divided in two-groups. Group I was given 8 mg (2 ml) of dexamethasone i / v before surgery, and group II was given 2 ml of saline i / v before surgery taken as control. The comparison of results was done with chi-square test. To record sore throat; visual analogue score (VAS) was used. Less than or 4VAS score was measured as no sore throat and > 4VAS score was measured as sore throat.

Results: The incidence of postoperative sore throat was less in group (I) than in the group II (control) who were given GA with endotracheal intubation after 24-hours. 14 (21.5%) subjects of the dexamethasone experienced postoperative sore throat in comparison to 33 (50.8%) patients in the control group. (p <0.01).

Conclusions: Preoperative usage of dexamethasone was related with a lower frequency of sore throat postoperatively.

Keywords: General anaesthesia, post-operative sore throat, visual analogue score (VAS).