Purpose: Anterior cervical spine surgery is associated with postoperative dysphagia, sore throat and dysphonia. It is unclear, whether this is caused by increased endotracheal tube (ETT) cuff pressure after retractor placement. This study aims to assess the effect of ETT cuff pressure adjustment on postoperative dysphagia, sore throat and dysphonia.
Methods: In this, single-centre, observer and patient-blinded randomized controlled trial patients treated with anterior cervical spine surgery were randomized to adjustment of the ETT cuff pressure to 20 mmHg after placement of the retractor versus no adjustment. Primary outcome was the incidence and severity of postoperative dysphagia. Secondary outcomes were sore throat and dysphonia. Outcomes were evaluated on day one and 2 months after the operation.
Results: Of 177 enrolled patients, 162 patients (92.5%) could be evaluated. The incidence of dysphagia was 75.9% on day one and 34.6% 2 months after surgery. Dysphagia in the intervention and control group was present in 77.8% versus 74.1% of patients on day one (odds ratio (OR) 1.2, 95% confidence interval (CI) (0.6-2.5)) and 28.4% versus 40.7% of patients after 2 months (OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.3-1.1), respectively. Severity of dysphagia, sore throat and dysphonia was similar in both groups.
Conclusions: Anterior cervical spine surgery is accompanied by a high incidence of postoperative dysphagia, lasting until at least 2 months after surgery in over a third of our patients. Adjusting ETT cuff pressure to 20 mmHg after retractor placement, as compared to controls, did not lower the risk for both short- and long-term dysphagia. Netherlands National Trial Registry Number: NTR 3542. These slides can be retrieved under electronic supplementary material.
Keywords: Cervical spine; Dysphagia; Endotracheal tube; Hoarseness and randomization.