OBJECTIVE To determine the correlation between anatomical features of the upper airway (evaluated via computed tomography imaging) and the ease of light wand-assisted endotracheal intubation in patients undergoing ear, nose and throat surgery under general anaesthesia. METHODS Mallampati class, laryngoscopic grade, thyromental distance, neck circumference, body mass index, mouth opening and u...

BACKGROUND Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is an independent risk factor to develop perioperative complications during weight loss surgery, but the mechanisms are unclear. It is possible, that patients with OSA have a higher incidence of desaturation during induction of anesthesia. METHODS We enrolled 100 morbidly obese (body mass index: 53+/-10) adult patients undergoing open bariatric surgery...

OBJECTIVES We wanted to evaluate whether the presence of nasal obstruction makes a change on the association between the modified Mallampati score and the severity of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and the sleep quality. METHODS Polysomnography (PSG), the modified Mallampati score (MMS), the body-mass index, and a questionnaire about nasal obstruction were acquired from 275 suspected SDB pa...

BACKGROUND During the course of their training, medical students may receive introductory experience with advanced resuscitation skills. Endotracheal intubation (ETI--the insertion of a breathing tube into the trachea) is an example of an important advanced resuscitation intervention. Only limited data characterize clinical ETI skill acquisition by medical students. We sought to characterize me...

STUDY OBJECTIVE To compare intubation difficulty in obese and non-obese patients by intubation difficulty scale (IDS), intubation duration measurement, and oxygen saturation (SaO(2)) levels. DESIGN Prospective, controlled study. SETTING Operating room of a tertiary-care hospital. PATIENTS 204 ASA physical status I, II, and III adult patients who underwent elective surgery with endotrachea...

Objective: To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of bedside tests for prediction difficult airway scheduled for ophthalmological surgeries under general anesthesia.Methods: This prospective study was carried out at Armed Forces Institute Ophthalmology, Rawalpindi, Pakistan from March 2020 to October 2020. All pediatric adult patients with American society of anesthesiologist grade I IV un...

BACKGROUND There are few national figures on the incidence of failed tracheal intubation during general anaesthesia in obstetrics. Recent small studies have quoted a rate of one in 250 general anaesthetics (GAs). The aim of this UK national study was to estimate this rate and identify factors that may be predictors. METHODS Using the UK Obstetric Surveillance System (UKOSS) of data collection...

BACKGROUND This study was performed to assess whether intubation is more difficult in obese patients and to assess the ability of a new index: the ratio of the neck circumference to thyromental distance (NC/TM), to predict difficult intubation in obese patients. METHODS The incidence of difficult tracheal intubation in 123 obese (BMI≥27.5 kg m(-2)) and 125 non-obese patients was compared. Dif...

INTRODUCTION Obesity is a factor that is strongly related to the occurrence of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in adults, although this association remains controversial for children. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to compare the clinical and upper airway charactheristics, obtained by questionnaires, physical examination and laboratory tests, among obese children with and without OSA. ME...

Induced nasal obstruction can cause obstructive apnoeas in healthy subjects during sleep, but the relationship between nasal resistance measured during wakefulness and obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) is weak. It was postulated that if the subjects could not breathe through the nose, the oral airway must be used, but if this airway is narrowed as well, then it could precipitate sleep-di...