Response to Comments on Article “Comparative Evaluation of Preoperative Paracetamol and a Combination of Paracetamol with Nebulized or Intravenous Dexamethasone for Prevention of Postoperative Sore Throat.”

Dear Editor, We thank the reader for their keen interest in our article “Comparative evaluation of preoperative paracetamol and a combination of paracetamol with nebulized or intravenous dexamethasone for prevention of postoperative sore throat,” published in the Med J DY Patil Vidyapeeth 2024;17:292-8.[1] We agree with the reader that an IV dexamethasone dose of 0.2 mg/kg has been suggested to decrease the incidence of postoperative sore throat (POST) as per an updated meta-analysis on the efficacy of dexamethasone in reducing the incidence of POST. This has been mentioned in our article too.[2] The dose used in the present study was fixed at 8 mg, which amounts to approximately 0.13 mg/kg. Since we were not administering dexamethasone singularly for the prevention of POST and were administering it in combination with paracetamol, we thought a smaller dose would suffice. Besides, some previous studies have also used a dose of 8 mg and found it to be effective in reducing POST.[3] We agree with the reader that it is easier, time-saving, and more cost-effective to administer dexamethasone by IV route as compared to nebulization. We found both routes to have comparable efficacy in the prevention of POST. Data availability statement This is a letter to the Editor. Please refer to reference 1 for data information. Author contribution SP and PM have written the text; All authors have read and approved the text. Financial support and sponsorship Nil. Conflicts of interest There are no conflicts of interest.