In the first and second cases, a 27-year-old male and a 56-year-old male underwent septoplasty, submucosal diathermy to inferior turbinates and bilateral antral washouts. While in the third case, a 44-year-old-female underwent bilateral temporomandibular joint arthroscopy and arthrocentesis.
Size 4 LMA was used in all cases. No throat pack was used. Each procedure took less than an hour. A plastic Yankauer sucker was used under direct vision to clear the supraglottis and the posterior pharynx of retained secretions and blood. The LMA was then removed by the anaesthetist on recovery of the patient.
Postoperatively the patients complained of a severe sore throat with evidence of significant palatal abrasions and uvular swelling on examination. On later review the sore throat was reported to have lasted around 5–10 days. At the six week outpatient review, all patients reported full recovery with no visible evidence of residual palatal or uvular scarring or other anaesthetic sequelae.