The impact of prophylactic dexamethasone on postoperative sore throat: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis

Yaofei Jiang,1–4,* Ruoxi Chen,2,* Suming Xu,2,* Jiaxi Li,2,* Fanqi Yu,2 Lingdong Kong,2 Yuhan Sun,2 Yuan Ye,2 Yimin Li,2 Mengqi Yu,2 Jiaming Wu1 1Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jiaxing University, Jiaxing, China; 2Department of General Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Nanchang University, Nanchang, China; 3Hubei Cancer Clinical Study Centre, 4Hubei Key Laboratory of Tumor Biological Behaviors, Zhongnan Hospital, Wuhan, China *These authors contributed equally to this work Background/Aims: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to assess the effect of prophylactic dexamethasone for tracheal intubation of general anesthesia on ­postoperative sore throat (POST). Methods: Comprehensive literature search of databases for randomized controlled trials (RCTs), including Embase, PubMed, and Cochrane Library, which evaluate the effect of prophylactic dexamethasone on POST was conducted. RevMan 5.0 and STATA 12.0 software were used to perform meta-analyses. Results: Fourteen RCTs totaling 1,837 patients were included for analysis. Compared with placebo, a significant reduction in the incidence of POST (OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.33–0.58, P