Comparison of Endotracheal Tube Cuff Inflation Between Dexmedetomidine, 2% Lignocaine and Air on Quality of Extubation: A Prospective Randomised Controlled Study.

Oral endotracheal intubation is a routine and indispensable component of general anesthesia management for surgical procedures. Cuffed tubes are preferred to uncuffed tubes as the inflated cuff offers a seal between the cuff and the trachea and enable positive pressure ventilation and prevent aspiration. The cuff pressure stimulates the stretch receptors in the tracheal mucosa causing  uncontrollable  postop cough and airway morbidities of sore throat, hoarseness, and dysphagia. Recently,  intracuff route is proven to be more efficacious  with prolonged duration than topical  route due to slow absorption into trachea bronchial mucosa. Dexmedetomidine , a novel  drug  is lipid soluble and has selective alpha 2 adrenergic agonistic action.It has gained popularity for its sedative and analgesic properties, and its potential anti-inflammatory effects. Regarding dexmedetomidine only topical and iv route trials have been conducted. There is still a lack of consensus in the literature regarding the  practice of  dexmedetomidine as intracuff route. Hence, we designed this study to evaluate intracuff dexmedetomidine with lignocaine on airway morbidities and haemodynamics  in patients under general anaesthesia.