Korean J Anesthesiol.  2011 Jun;60(6):403-407. 10.4097/kjae.2011.60.6.403.

Intravenous dexamethasone pretreatment reduces remifentanil induced cough

• Yu MS
• Kim JY
• Kim HY

• KMID: 1766653
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4097/kjae.2011.60.6.403

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Remifentanil infusion is commonly used for general anesthesia but reflex cough can occur after an intravenous (IV) infusion. This study was designed to examine the effect of IV-dexamethasone on remifentanil-induced cough (RIC).
METHODS
One hundred thirty patients scheduled for elective surgery were randomly assigned into two groups that received by either 2 ml of IV 0.9% saline (Group C, n = 68) or 10 mg of dexamethasone (Group D, n = 62) 5 min before administration of remifentanil at a target effect-site concentration of 5 ng/ml. The incidence and severity of coughs of each patient were recorded.
RESULTS
The overall incidence of cough was 6.5% (4/62 patients) in Group D and 26.5% (18/68 patients) in the Group C (P = 0.002). The severity of cough observed was significantly different by dexamethasone pretreatment (P = 0.02) but there were no significant hemodynamic changes.
CONCLUSIONS
Pretreatment with dexamethasone after IV administration was effective in suppressing the reflex cough induced by remifentanil infusion.

Keyword

Cough; Dexamethasone; Remifentanil

MeSH Terms

Anesthesia, General
Cough
Dexamethasone
Hemodynamics
Humans
Incidence
Piperidines
Reflex
Dexamethasone
Piperidines