Hiccups, or singulata (
hiccup is singultus), are commonly experienced by most people at one time or another and are usually brief and self-limiting. Although pharmacotherapeutic agents are not generally considered causal in the etiology of
hiccups, many clinicians empirically associate episodic
hiccups in their patients as being
drug induced. The two classes of drugs most often cited as causing
hiccups are
corticosteroids and
benzodiazepines. This report involved a patient who was given preoperative
dexamethasone and developed
hiccups before
anesthesia and surgery commenced. He at no time was in distress, and the
surgical procedure was completed without complication. By the second postsurgical day his
hiccups were resolved completely. Although the association may be anecdotal, many clinicians consider
hiccups a potential side effect of
steroid therapy, especially high doses of
steroids. Of interest in this case is the relatively low dose of
corticosteroid used, albeit apparently linked to his
hiccups. Practitioners should be aware of this potential condition.