Post-Operative Steroids After Sleep Surgery

May 4, 2026 updated by: Mohamed Abdelwahab, Medical University of South Carolina

A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial of Post-Operative Steroids After Sleep Surgery

The primary objective of this randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study will be to determine if postoperative steroids significantly improve subjects' pain compared to a placebo after undergoing sleep surgery. The secondary objective is to determine if this same course of steroids improves how quickly subjects can tolerate a regular diet after surgery. Further, another secondary objective is to see if this will decrease a patient's postoperative narcotic usage. Investigators also will assess sleepiness, nasal breathing, and eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD) after the procedure using the validated measures Preoperative Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation Survey (NOSE), and Eustachian Tube Dysfunction Questionnaire (ETDQ-7) with an objective to see if these improve more or quicker in patients who receive postoperative steroids. Investigators hypothesize that postoperative steroids will significantly decrease a patient's pain quicker in their recovery, allow them to tolerate more oral intake early in their recovery, allow them to tolerate a regular diet earlier in their recovery, and reduce their postoperative narcotic usage. Investigators hypothesize that postoperative steroids will also improve patients' ESS, NOSE, and ETD scores postoperatively, but Investigators do not believe postoperative steroids will affect the oropharyngeal bleeding rate of patients. This study will provide pilot data to determine if postoperative steroids and what dosage should be part of a standardized postoperative regimen in patients undergoing sleep surgery.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a multifactorial disease that negatively affects almost every system in the body. While continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) can be used as an effective treatment, there are many reasons that patients cannot tolerate CPAP, including claustrophobia, rhinitis sicca, ineffectiveness, and manufacturer recalls that most recently have even been fatal. Therefore, sleep surgery continues to be an increasingly utilized treatment option for patients with OSA who cannot tolerate or obtain CPAP. However postoperatively, patients typically complain of significant pain, sometimes requiring a significant course of narcotic pain medication, odynophagia, and dysphagia. These side effects often can make patients hesitant to pursue sleep surgery and carry the risk of patients becoming dehydrated and malnourished postoperatively, which can lead to representation to the Emergency Department. Minimal research currently exists on how to improve treating pain, odynophagia, and dysphagia in this patient population. One study by Williams et al. evaluated the use of a one-time dose of intravenous or intramuscular dose of steroids versus placebo after uvulopalatopharyngoplasty but did not find a clinically significant difference between the two groups postoperatively. However, in their study, they mention that likely their intervention was too short, and that further investigation into a longer course of steroid treatment, our current intervention for this study, could potentially show clinically significant improvements. Furthermore, there have been a few randomized controlled trials showing that a course of steroids improve pain and narcotic consumption after tonsillectomy in adults. However, no research has studies the postoperative effects of steroids on other sleep surgeries, such as palatopharyngoplasty, hypoglossal nerve stimulation, genioglossus advancement, or maxillomandibular advancement. Investigators hypothesize that postoperative steroids will be superior to no steroids in terms of pain, dysphagia, and narcotic usage.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

120

Phase

  • Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • South Carolina
      • Charleston, South Carolina, United States, 29412
        • Medical University of South Carolina

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adults 18 years or older
  • Undergoing sleep surgery, specifically palatopharyngoplasty, tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy, uvulectomy, hypoglossal nerve stimulation, genioglossal advancement, or maxillomandibular advancement
  • Ability to complete all study questions in English

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Any self-reported allergies to corticosteroids
  • Intra-operative surgical or anesthetic complication
  • Pre-operative steroid use (defined as any steroid use greater than three days duration within 30 days prior to sleep surgery)
  • Inability to perform study due to underlying medical condition
  • Inability to answer postoperative questionnaires due to underlying medical conditions

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: 3 doses of intravenous 8mg dexamethasone with 3 doses of oral 8mg dexamethasone
Experimental drug administered both intravenously and orally
Drug: 8mg dexamethasone
Minimal research exists on how to treat pain, odynophagia, and dysphagia in sleep surgery patients. One study by Williams et al. evaluated the use of a one-time dose of intravenous or intramuscular dose of steroids versus placebo after uvulopalatopharyngoplasty but did not find a clinically significant difference between the two groups postoperatively. However this study mentioned that their current intervention was too short and that a longer-term steroid intervention could be beneficial. This is the goal of this intervention.
Other Names:
  • Decadron
Other: 3 doses of intravenous 8mg dexamethasone with 3 doses of placebo
Experimental drug administered intravenously, while the placebo is administered orally
Drug: 8mg dexamethasone
Minimal research exists on how to treat pain, odynophagia, and dysphagia in sleep surgery patients. One study by Williams et al. evaluated the use of a one-time dose of intravenous or intramuscular dose of steroids versus placebo after uvulopalatopharyngoplasty but did not find a clinically significant difference between the two groups postoperatively. However this study mentioned that their current intervention was too short and that a longer-term steroid intervention could be beneficial. This is the goal of this intervention.
Other Names:
  • Decadron
Other: 3 doses of intravenous placebo with 3 doses of oral 8mg dexamethasone
Placebo administered intravenously, while the experimental drug is administered orally
Drug: 8mg dexamethasone
Minimal research exists on how to treat pain, odynophagia, and dysphagia in sleep surgery patients. One study by Williams et al. evaluated the use of a one-time dose of intravenous or intramuscular dose of steroids versus placebo after uvulopalatopharyngoplasty but did not find a clinically significant difference between the two groups postoperatively. However this study mentioned that their current intervention was too short and that a longer-term steroid intervention could be beneficial. This is the goal of this intervention.
Other Names:
  • Decadron
Placebo Comparator: 3 doses of intravenous placebo with 3 doses of placebo
Placebo administered both intravenously and orally
Drug: 8mg dexamethasone
Minimal research exists on how to treat pain, odynophagia, and dysphagia in sleep surgery patients. One study by Williams et al. evaluated the use of a one-time dose of intravenous or intramuscular dose of steroids versus placebo after uvulopalatopharyngoplasty but did not find a clinically significant difference between the two groups postoperatively. However this study mentioned that their current intervention was too short and that a longer-term steroid intervention could be beneficial. This is the goal of this intervention.
Other Names:
  • Decadron

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pain control
Time Frame: 2 weeks
As determined by a validated visual analog scale, with scores being scaled from 0 to 10, with 0 being the lowest score (no pain) and 10 being the highest score (most extreme amount of pain)
2 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Medical University of South Carolina

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Nicolas Poupore, Medical University of South Carolina

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

July 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

June 30, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

June 30, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 5, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 5, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

February 11, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 6, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 4, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Pro00138969

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

Yes

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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