A Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating the Efficacy of Soaking Endotracheal Tube in Dexamethasone Solution for Prevention of Postoperative Sore Throat After Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

September 11, 2026 updated by: Mariam Niaz, KRL Hospital, Islamabad

Topical Dexamethasone Tube Soaking for Prevention of Postoperative Sore Throat (POST) Following Endotracheal Intubation for Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if topical application of dexamethasone will prevent sore throat caused by endotracheal intubation in healthy patients undergoing elective surgery. The main question it aims to answer is:

• Does soaking the endotracheal tube in steroid solution before intubation lower the incidence of postoperative sore throat? Researcher will compare dexamethasone-soaked endotracheal tube to placebo (normal saline-soaked endotracheal tube) to see if topical steroid application in this way reduces development of sore throat.

Participants will be:

  • Intubated with an endotracheal tube, that was either soaked in normal saline or dexamethasone solution, at induction of general anesthesia prior to undergoing elective cholecystectomy
  • Interviewed by the researcher 24 hours after their surgery to assess if they experienced any throat soreness

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

64

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 Contact

Study Locations

  • Pakistan
      • Islamabad, Pakistan, 44000
        • KRL Hospital Islamabad

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:

  • Patients undergoing general anesthesia requiring ETT insertion during elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
  • ASA I & ASA II patients
  • Patients consenting to be a part of the study

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients having diabetes mellitus
  • Patients with suspected or incidental difficult Intubation

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: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Dexamethasone group
Participants intubated with endotracheal tube soaked in dexamethasone solution
Drug: Steroid Drug
Endotracheal tube will be soaked in dexamethasone solution for 10 minutes prior to intubation
Placebo Comparator: Normal saline group
Participants intubated with endotracheal tube soaked in normal saline
Drug: Normal (0.9%) saline
Endotracheal tube will be soaked in normal saline for 10 minutes prior to intubation

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Incidence of post operative sore throat
Time Frame: Within 24 hours of surgery
Proportion of patients who develop sore throat after surgery
Within 24 hours of surgery

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

KRL Hospital, Islamabad

Investigators

  • Study Chair: Dr Ammar Ali Shah, MBBS DA FCPS MHPE Fellowship, KRL Hospital, Islamabad

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)

November 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

January 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

March 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 11, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 11, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

September 16, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

September 16, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 11, 2026

Last Verified

September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • KRL-HI-PUB-ERC/207

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant data will be kept confidential and not shared publicly

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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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