Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsCausesHow to Soothe ItHow Long Does It Last?When to See a Healthcare Provider
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Causes
How to Soothe It
How Long Does It Last?
When to See a Healthcare Provider
Asore throatafter surgery is common, particularly ifgeneral anesthesiais used.
General anesthesia uses medications to put you into a sleep-like state during surgery so that you are unconscious and do not feel pain or move. It also requires a breathing tube that can irritate the throat.
After surgery with general anesthesia, many patients report throat discomfort ranging from mild to severe in the hours and days following their surgery.
It is typically nothing to worry about unless it impacts the ability to speak or if the soreness lasts more than a week.
This article will explore the two leading causes of a sore throat after surgery, how to soothe it, and when to seek medical care.
Verywell / Jessica Olah
Your throat probably hurts after surgery for one of two reasons:dehydrationor irritation from methods to maintain your breathing. Sometimes, it may be due to both.
Dehydration
After surgery, you may be dehydrated, so your body does not have enough fluids to function at its best. This can cause dryness in your throat.
Dehydration can happen since you aren’t allowed to eat or drink before surgery, and you may be allowed only minimal food and fluids after surgery.
Drinking water and other fluids will relieve this problem.
Breathing Tubes
The anesthesia drugs used during general anesthesia paralyze your muscles, including thediaphragm, which keeps you breathing. This requires methods to maintain breathing during surgery.
It’s common for anendotracheal tubeto be put into your mouth and down your throat, a process called intubation.
This tube, which is inserted into yourtracheaor windpipe, is then attached to aventilatorto provide oxygen during surgery and potentially during the early stages of recovery.
Sometimes, face masks orlaryngeal mask airways(LMA) are used. LMAs are devices with a tube that sits in the back of the throat above the opening to the trachea. These breathing tubes can also lead to throat dryness or irritation.
The procedure to insert the tube can be irritating to the throat, tongue, and vocal cords.In addition, having the tube remain in place can cause further irritation in the mouth and throat.
After the tube is removed, it’s common for your mouth, throat, and airway to be sore, and you may experience burning and other symptoms.
If your condition requires a prolonged stay on the ventilator, the resulting sore throat may be more significant.
Most facilities will encourage atracheostomy, which involves an incision into your neck to access your windpipe if the breathing tube and ventilator are necessary for more than 10-14 days. This is because leaving the breathing tube in place for too long can cause permanent damage to the vocal cords.
If you have other types of anesthesia that do not require breathing assistance, such as a regional block of sensation in a specific area of your body. In that case, you shouldn’t experience throat discomfort.
Intubation Explained
How to Soothe a Sore Throat After Surgery
If you get throat soreness after surgery, various options can help ease the pain.
Someover-the-counter (OTC) remediescan be helpful. Numbing lozenges with benzocaine are particularly effective for this type of irritation. The medication coats and protects the throat while numbing the area. Sucking on hard candy can also help keep the area more lubricated to decrease pain.
It’s also important to drink lots of fluids. This can help keep your throat moist and pain-free, and if tolerated, ice water can act like a cold pack for the inside of the throat.
Some people prefer popsicles and other cold/icy treats but avoid citrus, such as orange or lemon, as they can irritate already tender tissues.
Caring for Your Mouth and Throat After Surgery
How Long Does a Sore Throat Last?
You might notice a sore throat immediately after waking up from surgery. However, you might not feel any throat pain initially because pain-relieving drugs might mask any discomfort in your throat. As medications wear off, you might start to notice a sore throat.
Irritation in your throat might last several days following surgery, depending on factors like the size of the endotracheal tube used during surgery, the duration of intubation, your level of hydration, and any pain medication you might be taking.
Usually, symptoms begin to ease after two to three days. At four days, many patients feel their throat has improved significantly, although it might take up to six days to resolve symptoms completely.
Don’t ignore a throat problem that isn’t improving in the days following surgery. Within three to four days after surgery, most people report that their sore throat is no longer an issue and are back to eating and drinking without difficulty.
If your sore throat persists for more than a week or your voice is affected, contact your surgeon or another healthcare provider. You may be referred to an ENT (ear, nose, and throat) specialist called anotolaryngologist.
Permanent throat or vocal cord injury is rare, but it is one of the risks of anesthesia, and early treatment can make a dramatic difference in the outcome.
Keep in mind that the sore throat may be unrelated to the surgery. For example, a person might also have an exposure that leads to an infection such asstrep throat, a contagious bacterial infection that causes a sore throat. It may require antibiotics as treatment. Antibiotics kill or stop the growth of bacteria.
Summary
Post-surgical throat pain is common and can be due to dehydration or irritation from any tubes in your throat that keep you breathing during surgery.
4 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Bekele Z, Melese Z.Incidence and risk factors for postoperative sore throat after general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation: prospective cohort study.Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2023;85(6):2356-2361. doi:10.1097/MS9.0000000000000786Gemechu BM, Gebremedhn EG, Melkie TB.Risk factors for postoperative throat pain after general anaesthesia with endotracheal intubation at the University of Gondar Teaching Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia, 2014.Pan Afr Med J. 2017;27:127. doi:10.11604/pamj.2017.27.127.10566Aqil M, Khan MU, Mansoor S, Mansoor S, Khokhar RS, Narejo AS.Incidence and severity of postoperative sore throat: a randomized comparison of Glidescope with Macintosh laryngoscope.BMC Anesthesiol.2017;17(1):127. doi:10.1186/s12871-017-0421-4Hamdy B, Mamdouh H, Ahmed R, Adeeb S, Ali A.Effect of general anesthesia on voice.Egyptian Journal of Ear, Nose, Throat and Allied Sciences.2016(17)2:75-79. doi:10.1016/j.ejenta.2016.05.008
4 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Bekele Z, Melese Z.Incidence and risk factors for postoperative sore throat after general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation: prospective cohort study.Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2023;85(6):2356-2361. doi:10.1097/MS9.0000000000000786Gemechu BM, Gebremedhn EG, Melkie TB.Risk factors for postoperative throat pain after general anaesthesia with endotracheal intubation at the University of Gondar Teaching Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia, 2014.Pan Afr Med J. 2017;27:127. doi:10.11604/pamj.2017.27.127.10566Aqil M, Khan MU, Mansoor S, Mansoor S, Khokhar RS, Narejo AS.Incidence and severity of postoperative sore throat: a randomized comparison of Glidescope with Macintosh laryngoscope.BMC Anesthesiol.2017;17(1):127. doi:10.1186/s12871-017-0421-4Hamdy B, Mamdouh H, Ahmed R, Adeeb S, Ali A.Effect of general anesthesia on voice.Egyptian Journal of Ear, Nose, Throat and Allied Sciences.2016(17)2:75-79. doi:10.1016/j.ejenta.2016.05.008
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Bekele Z, Melese Z.Incidence and risk factors for postoperative sore throat after general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation: prospective cohort study.Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2023;85(6):2356-2361. doi:10.1097/MS9.0000000000000786Gemechu BM, Gebremedhn EG, Melkie TB.Risk factors for postoperative throat pain after general anaesthesia with endotracheal intubation at the University of Gondar Teaching Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia, 2014.Pan Afr Med J. 2017;27:127. doi:10.11604/pamj.2017.27.127.10566Aqil M, Khan MU, Mansoor S, Mansoor S, Khokhar RS, Narejo AS.Incidence and severity of postoperative sore throat: a randomized comparison of Glidescope with Macintosh laryngoscope.BMC Anesthesiol.2017;17(1):127. doi:10.1186/s12871-017-0421-4Hamdy B, Mamdouh H, Ahmed R, Adeeb S, Ali A.Effect of general anesthesia on voice.Egyptian Journal of Ear, Nose, Throat and Allied Sciences.2016(17)2:75-79. doi:10.1016/j.ejenta.2016.05.008
Bekele Z, Melese Z.Incidence and risk factors for postoperative sore throat after general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation: prospective cohort study.Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2023;85(6):2356-2361. doi:10.1097/MS9.0000000000000786
Gemechu BM, Gebremedhn EG, Melkie TB.Risk factors for postoperative throat pain after general anaesthesia with endotracheal intubation at the University of Gondar Teaching Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia, 2014.Pan Afr Med J. 2017;27:127. doi:10.11604/pamj.2017.27.127.10566
Aqil M, Khan MU, Mansoor S, Mansoor S, Khokhar RS, Narejo AS.Incidence and severity of postoperative sore throat: a randomized comparison of Glidescope with Macintosh laryngoscope.BMC Anesthesiol.2017;17(1):127. doi:10.1186/s12871-017-0421-4
Hamdy B, Mamdouh H, Ahmed R, Adeeb S, Ali A.Effect of general anesthesia on voice.Egyptian Journal of Ear, Nose, Throat and Allied Sciences.2016(17)2:75-79. doi:10.1016/j.ejenta.2016.05.008
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