Efficacy of endotracheal tube cuff lignocaine in the prevention of postextubation cough in children undergoing elective surgeries – A randomised controlled trial

Postextubation airway complications are more common in paediatric patients than in adults. Intravenous lignocaine effectively prevents extubation response; however, data on using intracuff lignocaine in microcuff endotracheal tubes is scarce. The primary aim of this study was to compare the incidence of postextubation cough between intracuff lignocaine and intracuff air in the paediatric population during tracheal extubation. This randomised controlled study was conducted in 120 paediatric patients aged 1 month to 12 years who were scheduled to undergo surgeries under general anaesthesia. They were randomised to Group C (intracuff air) and Group L (intracuff 2% lignocaine). After administering general anaesthesia, the airway was secured with an age-appropriate microcuff endotracheal tube. According to groups, the cuff was inflated with air or lignocaine to achieve a cuff pressure of 10 cm H2O. Incidences of cough, desaturation, laryngospasm, apnoea and haemodynamic changes were recorded after tracheal extubation. Categorical variables were compared using the Chi-square or Fisher’s exact test, and continuous variables were compared using the Student’s t-test or Mann–Whitney U test. Intergroup differences between the variables were analysed by a two-way repeated measure analysis of variance. The incidence of postextubation cough was significantly higher in Group C [17 (28.3%) (confidence interval {CI} = 17.4–41.4)] when compared to Group L [8 (13.3%) (CI = 5.9–24.6)], with P = 0.043. One patient in Group C had laryngospasm compared to none in Group L. In Group C, there was also a significant increase in heart rate at all time points (1–5 min after extubation) from the baseline, and this increase was also significantly higher when compared to Group L (P < 0.05). The incidence of postextubation cough was significantly lower with intracuff lignocaine compared to that with intracuff air in paediatric patients.