i-gel (n=45) SLMA (n=40) P value In recovery Sore throat; none: mild: moderate: severe Other complication; none: mild: moderate: severe Total number of complications Number of patients experiencing complication; 0:1:2:3 40:4:0:1 40:4:1:0 10 37:7:0:1 32:7:1:0 36:4:0:0 12 32:5:2:1 0.33 0.63 0.49 0.49 At 24 hours Sore throat; none: mild: moderate: severe Other complication; none: mild: moderate: severe Total number of complications Number of patients experiencing complication; 0:1:2:3 37:8:0:0 40:5:0:0 13 34:9:2:0 34:6:0:0 36:4:0:0 10 32:6:2:0 0.96 0.87 0.88 0.83

‘Other’ includes: nausea or vomiting, tongue swelling or numbness, ear pain, hearing change, pain on swallowing, jaw or neck pain, pain on speaking, any areas of numbness. All asked individually and (when present) rated as mild, moderate or severe.

Table 3: Post-operative sequelae.