Postoperative sore throat: cause, prevention and treatment

Sore throat is a common postoperative complaint, occurring most often follo wing tracheal intubation. Factors such as tracheal-tube size and cuff desig n have been shown to be important causative factors. Routine tracheal intub ation for elective surgical procedures can result in pathological changes, trauma and nerve damage which may also account for postoperative throat sym ptoms. Sore throat following the use of a laryngeal mask appears to be rela ted to the technique of insertion but the contribution of intracuff pressur e remains to be clarified. It would appear, however, that high intracuff pr essure is associated with nerve palsies due to neuropraxia and nerve compre ssion. Careful insertion techniques for both the tracheal tube and laryngea l mask are of paramount importance in the prevention of airway trauma and p ostoperative sore throat.