• Helga Vasconcelos, Camila Cavalcante Bomfim, Maria Julia Gonçalves de Mello Mello, Paulo Sérgio Gomes Nogueira Borges, Tania Cursino de Menezes Couceiro, and Flávia Augusta de Orange.
• Medical Degree, University of Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil.
• Rev Assoc Med Bras. 2014 Jan 1;60(1):40-6.

ObjectiveTo identify compliance with the procedures for securing the airway of patients submitted to anesthesia, defined as highly recommended in the World Health Organization Surgical Safety Checklist.MethodsA prospective, cross-sectional, observational study was conducted with 87 patients aged 18 to 60 years, classified as ASA grade 1 or 2 according to the American Society of Anesthesiologists' Physical Status Classification. The study variables consisted of: whether the Mallampati test had been performed, whether equipment was readily available for orotracheal intubation, whether the correct placement of the endotracheal tube was verified, whether patient ventilation was monitored and whether fasting was confirmed. Prevalence ratios and their respective 95% confidence intervals were calculated as measures of relative risk. Statistical significance was defined at 5%.ResultsIt was found that in 87.4% of patients, the airway was not evaluated using the Mallampati classification and in 51.7% of cases, preoperative fasting was not confirmed. In 29.9% of cases, the ready availability of equipment for orotracheal intubation was not verified. In all of the cases in which the availability of this equipment was not checked, the patient was submitted to regional anesthesia, with a statistically significant difference compared to the cases in which the patient was submitted to general anesthesia.ConclusionMeasures considered essential for the safety of the patient during surgery are still being ignored.

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