The purpose of an airway assessment is to predict and plan for a difficult airway
The definition of a difficult airway is: “the clinical situation in which a conventionally trained Anaesthesiologist experiences difficulty with facemask ventilation, difficulty in supraglottic device ventilation, difficulty in tracheal intubation or all three” where:
Difficulty with facemask ventilation is the inability of an unassisted anaesthesiologist:
to maintain oxygen saturation, measured by pulse oximetry, 92%; or
to prevent or reverse signs of inadequate ventilation during positive-pressure mask ventilation under general anaesthesia
Difficult laryngoscopy occurs when “it’s not possible to visualise any portion of the vocal cords with conventional laryngoscopy”
This typically corresponds to a Cormack and Lehane Grade IV laryngoscopy view
Difficult endotracheal intubation occurs when “proper insertion of the tracheal tube with conventional laryngoscopy requires more than three attempts or more than 10 minutes”
Pre-Operative Airway Assessment
History
General history elements:
Reason for airway protection/management
AMPLE history (allergies, medications, past medical history, last meal, events)
