The comparison of the incidence of postoperative Sore Throat, Hoarseness and Myalgia between rocuronium and succinylcholine for RSII: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract Background: The present study was designed to compare the incidence of postoperative sore throat, hoarseness, and myalgia between rocuronium and succinylcholine for rapid sequence induction and intubation. Methods: One hundred and twenty-four patients were randomly divided into rocuroniun group (group R, n=62) or succinylcholine group (group S, n=62). Anesthesia was induced with propofol 2mg kg-1 and remifentanil 2μg kg-1in both groups, and then rocuronium 0.6 mg kg-1 or succinylcholine 1.5mg kg-1 was given after patient lost consciousness. Tracheal intubation was performed 60s after these two muscle relaxants were given and the intubating conditions were evaluated. The incidences of postoperative sore throat, hoarseness and myalgia were evaluated at postoperative care unit(PACU), 12hours 24hours and 48hours postoperatively. Results: The numbers of patients with excellent and good intubating conditions in group R were 90.0% and 6.7%, respectively, which were comparable with those in group S (91.7% and 5.0% respectively). The incidence of postoperative sore throat of group S (41.8%) was significantly higher than that of group R (18.3%) in PACU (P<0.05), at 12 hours (38% versus 10%, P<0.05) and 24 hours postoperatively (32% versus 6.7%, P<0.05), however, these differences reached an insignificant level at 48 hours postoperatively (3.3% versus 1.7%). There were some cases in both groups underwent hoarseness and/or myalgia at each time point, but the differences did not reach a significant level. Conclusions: In the context of a RSII with lidocaine–remifentanil–propofol, compared with rocuronium, succinylcholine supplementation was associated with high incidence of postoperative sore throat. Trial registration: The present study was prospectively registered at http://www.chictr. org/cn/(ChiCTR-IOR-15006977); Registration date: Nov 4, 2015 Keywords: Rocuronium, Succinylcholine, Sore Throat, Hoarseness, Myalgia