AANA journal
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The effectiveness of 4% intracuff lidocaine in reducing coughing during emergence from general anesthesia in smokers undergoing procedures lasting less than 1.5 hours.
Coughing commonly occurs in patients emerging from general endotracheal anesthesia and is prominent in smokers due to underlying airway irritation. Clinical techniques used to mitigate emergence coughing include intravenous narcotics, intravenous or topical lidocaine, and deep extubation. Reduction of coughing by instilling lidocaine into the endotracheal tube cuff has been shown to be effective in long cases. ⋯ The control group received 5 mL of saline, and the experimental group received 5 mL of 4% lidocaine. On emergence, the anesthesia provider counted and recorded the number of coughs before awake extubation. This study did not show a correlation between use of intracuff lidocaine and a decrease in emergence coughing in procedures lasting less than 1.5 hours in patients who smoke.