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A prospective, double-blind, randomized study of the effects of perioperative steroids on palatoplasty patients
C W Senders1, B E Emery, J M Sykes
1Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of California, Davis, USA.
Objective:
To determine whether perioperative steroids affect the outcome of patients who undergo palatoplasty.
Design:
A prospective, double-blind, randomized study.
Setting:
A university medical center.
Patients:
Twenty patients undergoing primary repair of a cleft palate.
Intervention:
A prospective double-blind technique was used to randomly assign patients to receive a placebo or dexamethasone sodium phosphate perioperatively.
Main Outcome Measure:
Patients were monitored for postoperative airway distress, fever, oral fluid intake, days of hospitalization, and wound healing.
Results:
The use of perioperative steroids was associated with shorter hospitalizations. No adverse sequelae from the administration of steroids were identified.
Conclusions:
In our current managed care environment, the use of perioperative steroids may play an important role in reducing health care costs.