• P Descoins, J Arné, D Bresard, J Ariès, and J Fusciardi.
• Département d'Anesthésie-Réanimation Chirurgicale, CHU Poitiers.
• Ann Fr Anesth Reanim. 1994 Jan 1;13(2):195-200.

AbstractThis study assessed prospectively in 295 ENT adult patients the predictive value of clinical indicators for difficult intubation and of a new multifactorial score, established by the allocation of points (0, 3, 5 or 7) depending on the degree of presence of seven factors: pathology known to be associated with a difficult intubation, clinical signs of airways' pathology, inter-incisors gap and mandible's luxation, submental mandibular-thyroid distance, normal or short and broad neck, head and neck movements, and Mallampati's test. The incidence of difficult laryngoscopy was 14% and the use of particular techniques for tube insertion was required in 8% of patients. The presence of malformation or pathology often associated with a difficult intubation and the presence of functional signs of airways' pathology predict the difficulties of laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation with a good sensitivity and specificity. The analysis of the "Receiver Operating Characteristic curves" showed that a score higher or equal to 11 allows the prediction of difficult intubations with a sensitivity of 96% and a specificity of 90%.

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