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A Double-blind, Randomized, Controlled Study

Prakash Zodpe, MS; Jae Gu Cho, MD; Hee Joon Kang, MD; Soon Jae Hwang, MD; Heung-Man Lee, MD

Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2006;132:1082-1085.

Objective  To evaluate the effectiveness of sucralfate in influencing throat pain, otalgia, analgesic requirement, bleeding, mucosal recovery, and incidence of postoperative bleeding in patients undergoing uvulopalatopharyngoplasty.

Design  A prospective double-blind randomized study.

Setting  University-affiliated tertiary referral hospital.

Participants  Eighty adult patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome requiring uvulopalatopharyngoplasty were recruited and randomly allocated into either a sucralfate treatment group or a control group.

Interventions  All patients underwent uvulopalatopharyngoplasty. Patients enrolled in the sucralfate group (n = 40) were instructed to gargle the sucralfate suspension and then to swallow. Patients enrolled in the control group (n = 40) were instructed to gargle placebo suspension at the same doses and schedule.

Main Outcome Measures  Postoperative throat pain, otalgia, amount of analgesic required, degree of strength (defined as patients' general well-being and return to regular daily activities), percentage of mucosal covering, and postoperative bleeding.

Results  Throat pain and otalgia occurred significantly less often in sucralfate group, with less analgesic requirement and with rapid mucosal healing and early return to regular daily activities. There was no significant difference in episodes of postoperative bleeding between the 2 groups (P = .37).

Conclusions  Although sucralfate therapy may not provide complete analgesia after uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, it may reduce the amount of analgesic required, thus preventing dose-related adverse effects from the analgesic agent. It can also significantly reduce the total number of days needed to return to normal daily activities (P = .41).

Author Affiliations: Department of Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Communication Disorder Institute of Medical Science Research Center, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.