When patients gargled with a licorice solution immediately before induction of anesthesia, the incidence and severity of post-operative sore throat and post-extubation coughing was significantly reduced on the first post-op day, a new study suggests.

Researchers enrolled 156 patients into a trial. All patients underwent elective thoracic surgery with a double-lumen endotracheal tube. The patients were randomly assigned to gargle, at 5 minutes before induction of general anesthesia, for at least 30 seconds with either licorice solution (Extractum Liquiritiae fluidum) or sugar water.

Compared to gargling with sugar water, pre-op gargling with licorice decreased the mean score for sore throat pain at PACU arrival by 68%. This study was first reported in Anesthesiology News.

Dan O'Connor