Table 1. Summary of the randomized clinical trials.

Source	ASA-PS	Mean age (SD)	Total No. patients	Surgery	Type of Anesthesia Maintenance	Post-operative Analgesia	Timing of Scoring	Study Drug	Dose of Study Drug	Timing of Study Drug	Postoperative Infection	Postoperative Hyperglycemia	Other outcomes
De Oliveira, 2011 [27]	1–2	37 years (9.9)	106	Outpatient gynecological laparoscopy	Sevoflurane	Hydromorphone, ketorolac (in the hospital), ibuprofen, or hydrocodone plus acetaminophen (after discharge)	Day 1	Dexamethasone	0.1 or 0.05 mg kg-1	In the preoperative holding area	Not reported	Not reported	Sore throat, coughing, and hoarseness was reduced in the dexamethasone 0.1 mg kg-1 group.
Murphy, 2011a [29]	1–3	50.3 years (16.1)	91	Outpatient laparoscopic cholecystectomy	Sevoflurane	Hydromorphone (PACU)/oral acetaminophen + hydrocodone (ASU) as a rescue drug	Day 1	Dexamethasone	8 mg	Approximately 60 minutes before the anticipated time of the surgical incision	No patients required readmission for complications related to surgery, such as wound infection	Not reported	Increased appetite was observed 6/46 in the dexamethasone and 0/45 in control group. The incidence of sleeplessness, headache, stomach pain, and negative mood change were not different.
Murphy, 2011b [28]	2–4	63.1 years (12.7)	104	CABG with CPB or single valvar repair/replacement	Isoflurane + propofol (from sternal closure)	Intravenous boluses of morphine	Day 1 & Day 2	Dexamethasone	8 mg	Approximately 45 minutes before surgical incision and at the initiation of CPB	Infection was observed 1/49 in control and 0/60 in dexamethasone group	Serum glucose concentrations was higher in the dexamethasone group, but it was not statistically significant.	Postoperative cardiac arrhythmias were observed 5/58 in dexamethasone and 5/49 in control group. Postoperative shivering was observed 0/58 in dexamethasone and 8/49 in control group.
Pauls, 2015 [30]	1–3	62.5 years (9.0)	63	major vaginal reconstructive surgery	Not reported	Hydromorphone, ketorolac	Day1	Dexamethasone	8 mg	60 minutes prior to surgery	No subjects had fever, ileus, or infections in the perioperative period	Not record blood glucose levels on all patients	Anemia was observed 1/27 in dexamethasone and 0/36 in control group.

ASU, avocado/soybean unsaponifiables; ASA-PS, American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status; CPB, cardiopulmonary bypass; CABG, coronary artery bypass graft; PACU, post-anesthesia care unit; SD, standard deviation