Correlation of Laryngoscopic View between Awake and Anesthetized Looks in Patients with Suspected Difficult Intubation : A Preliminary Report

Abstract

Background and objective: Awake look in suspected difficult intubation patients should be evaluated to reduce the rate of awake intubation if the vocal cords can be clearly seen from awake look. This study aim to evaluate the correlation between laryngoscopic view in awake look and anesthetizedd look in the patients with equivocal difficult intubation.

Methods: A prospective descriptive study was conducted of all suspected difficult intubation patients at Srinagarind Hospital who underwent general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation. We defined the suspected difficult intubation patient if the patients have positive finding at least 1 in 5 criterias ( Inter-incisor gap < 4 cm., Thyro-mental distance < 6 cm., Mallampati class > II, Upper lip bite test grade > I, postitive history of difficult intubation). Continuous data were presented as mean and standard deviation. Categorical data were present as percentage.

Results: Fifteen patients were included in this study. 66.7% of them were females, mean age 47.6 years, mean body weight 66.8 kg and mean BMI 27.6 kg./m². Sixty percent of patients who had laryngoscopic view in awake look grade III, IV had grade I, II during anesthetizedd look and 40% had grade III, IV. Kappa correlation between laryngoscopic view in awake look and anesthetizedd look was 0.31 (95%CI 0.002-0.617). Comparing between laryngoscopic view in anesthetizedd look and the airway examination we found that all patients who had laryngoscopic view grade III, IV had Mallampati grade III, IV and upper lip bite test grade II, III.

Conclusion: The correlationd between laryngoscopic view in awake look and anesthetized look was fair, however this study is preliminary report so the further study need to be done.