No increased incidence of postoperative sore throat after administration of suxamethonium in endotracheal anaesthesia

Sixty patients were divided into two groups (A and B) of 30 patients each to investigate the effect of using suxamethonium in endotracheal anaesthesia on the incidence of postoperative sore throat. The patients were anaesthetized with thiopentone, fentanyl, droperidol, N2O and pancuronium. Before endotracheal intubation with a Mallinckrodt lo-pro-tube, patients in Group A were given pancuronium, whereas patients in Group B were given suxamethonium. There was no difference in the incidence or severity of sore throat 20-30 h postoperatively between the two groups (P = 0.5). The type 2 error (beta) was low (the risk of overlooking a "true" difference in incidence of 0.20 was calculated to be 0.04). These results contradict those of a recent study, which demonstrated an increased incidence of postoperative sore throat following the use of suxamethonium in mask anaesthesia.