Abstract

Objective. Vitamin C may be a beneficial adjunct for decreasing sore throat following tracheal intubation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of vitamin C infusion on post-intubation sore throat reduction. Methods. This double-blind randomized study was conducted on 70 patients undergoing elective laparoscopic surgery in Shahid Sadoughi Hospital. The patients were allocated into two groups (experimental and control). All patients received 2 mg midazolam and 100 microgram fentanyl citrate premedication. Thirty minutes after induction of anesthesia, 5 mg morphine was given to all patients. In the next step, the experimental group received vitamin C (2 g) mixed with normal saline for the total injection volume of 500 mL during 30 min and those in control group received normal saline without vitamin C. Results. In current study, no remarkable difference was observed between the experimental and control groups, considering age, sex and BMI (p>0.05). Significant difference was observed between the experimental and control groups in terms of postoperative sore throat at specified time including 1, 6 and 24 hours. A significant difference was noticed between experimental and control groups with respect to postoperative pain score at specified time (p<0.05). However, no difference was seen between the experimental and control groups regarding postoperative nausea, vomiting and itchy throat (p>0.05). Conclusion. According to the results of this study, the use of vitamin C reduced the incidence of sore throat and pain score in patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery. It seems that vitamin C can decrease morphine indicated for postoperative pain. © 2019, Serbian Medical Society. All rights reserved.