Investigating the effectiveness of intraoperative topical steroids in preventing dysphagia and swallowing disorders in patients undergoing anterior cervical discectomy surgery with fusion

Investigating the effectiveness of intraoperative topical steroids in preventing dysphagia and swallowing disorders in patients undergoing anterior cervical discectomy surgery with fusion

In a randomized block design, subjects are divided into two groups (total of 120) and then the medication is administered by the clinical caregiver with a specific code and provided to the researcher. The researcher assesses the patients using an examination and records the results based on the patient code.

Using the randomized block method, patients referred to Al-Zahra Hospital are divided into two groups, and then medication is administered by the clinical caregiver with a specific code and provided to the researcher.

Inclusion criteria: The patient must consent to participate in the study. The patient has undergone anterior discectomy with fusion. Exclution criteria: Patients who have undergone surgery with traumatic, neoplastic, or infectious symptoms Patients who had previously received corticosteroids (6 months ago).

Patients in the intervention group (n = 60) will be given depomedrol. 5 cc of depomedrol is required for each gelfoam. In fact, a 4 x 2 cm gelfoam will be completely soaked. Patients in the control group (n = 60) will be given an equivalent volume of saline solution at the same time points to receive placebo.

Dysphagia

With the convenience sampling method, the referring individuals who are eligible for the study are randomly divided into two groups: case and control. In this study, the division of individuals is done using the four-way permutation block method. In this method, A represents the individual who receives the intervention and B represents the individual who is in the control group. Considering the four-way block, we give the AABB permutation code 0, the ABAB permutation code 1, ABBA code 2, BAAB code 3, BBAA code 4, and BABA codes 5 to 9. Then, using the random number table, we randomly select a starting point and then consider the numbers in rows or columns. Considering the order of the numbers in the table, we assign the corresponding permutation to each number we encounter. Finally, 120 people will be divided into two groups.