Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 May 23;11(5):e4735.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.4735.

Role of Prophylactic Dexamethasone Before Thyroidectomy in Reducing Postoperative Pain, Nausea and Vomiting

Raheel Ahmad  1 , Mehwish Changeez  1 , Asim Tameez Ud Din  2 , Anum Iftikhar  3 , Hafiz Bilal Ahmad  1 , Ahmed Mujtaba  1 , Jahangir S Khan  1 , Mustafa N Malik  4
Affiliations

Role of Prophylactic Dexamethasone Before Thyroidectomy in Reducing Postoperative Pain, Nausea and Vomiting

Raheel Ahmad et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Introduction Post-operative nausea, vomiting (PONV) and pain are the most frequently encountered complains after thyroid surgery. Steroids effectively reduce pain, nausea, and inflammation, therefore prophylactic administration of steroids improve these outcomes. The aim of our study was to compare the prophylactic administration of dexamethasone with placebo in terms of PONV and pain. Patients and methods We conducted a double-blinded randomized controlled trial including 100 patients who underwent thyroid surgery from January 2017 to December 2017 in Surgical Unit-I of the Holy Family hospital, Pakistan. The outcome in terms of post-operative pain, nausea and vomiting were measured. Results The mean age of the patients was 39.62 ± 12.73 years in group A, while in group B it was 39.06 ± 13.25 years. Out of the 100 patients included in our trial, 52 (52%) patients were males and 48 (48%) patients were females. The mean value of pain in group A patients was 1.60 ± 1.26, while in group B it was 3.60 ± 1.94. A statistically significant difference was found between the study groups with regard to the pain score of the patients i.e. p-value = 0.001. The PONV was found in 28 patients from group A and 19 patients from group B and no significant improvement was seen (p-value = 0.071). Conclusion A single dose of prophylactic dexamethasone significantly reduces the mean pain score in patients undergoing thyroidectomy; however, insignificant relation was noted in terms of PONV condition.

Keywords: dexamethasone; pain score; ponv; post-operative nausea and vomiting; thyroidectomy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Distribution according to the gender of patients
Figure 2
Figure 2. Frequency of PONV
PONV, postoperative nausea and vomiting
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Anesthesia and thyroid surgery: the never ending challenges. Bajwa SJ, Sehgal V. Indian J Endocrinol Metab. 2013;17:228–234. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Thyroid dysfunction in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Attaullah S, Haq B S, Muska M. Pak J Med Sci. 2016;32:111–115. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Reduced incidence of postoperative symptoms following a novel bilateral supraclavicular approach to open thyroidectomy: a randomized clinical trial in a Chinese population. Lv L, Zhou M, Pan S, Yang K. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26221276. Int J Clin Exp Med. 2015;8:7359–7366. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Effects of ramosetron and dexamethasone on postoperative nausea, vomiting, pain, and shivering in female patients undergoing thyroid surgery. Song YK, Lee C. J Anesth. 2013;27:29–34. - PubMed
    1. Perioperative single dose systemic dexamethasone for postoperative pain a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. De Oliveira GS, Almeida MD, Benzon HT, McCarthy RJ. Anesthesiology. 2011;115:575–588. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources