Korean J Anesthesiol Search

CLOSE


Korean Journal of Anesthesiology 2004;46(1):17-22.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4097/kjae.2004.46.1.17   
The Usefulness of Preoperative Airway Characteristics as Predictors of Dental Trauma during Laryngoscopy.
Jaemin Lee, Hae Wone Chang, Ou Kyung Kwon, Jong Ho Choi, Kyung Seung Yang
Department of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Damage to teeth has long been associated with endotracheal intubation. But, no rules designed to predict dental injuries have been formulated. In this prospective study, we undertook to identify relationships between anatomic airway measurements used customarily in bedside practice, and blade-tooth distance during laryngoscopy, to assess the usefulness of these anatomic measurements as predictors of dental injury.
METHODS
Four hundred and eighty-three patients scheduled for elective surgery requiring general anesthesia with endotracheal tube placement were included. During a preoperative visit, a number of measurements and assessments of features that might predict difficult intubation were performed. When optimum visibility of the glottis was obtained during laryngoscopy, the distance between the flange of the blade and the upper incisor was measured. We determined which of the individual airway characteristics correlated with the blade-tooth distance and best predicted the potential of dental injury.
RESULTS
The blade-tooth distance was found to correlate with the individual scales of the Mallampati classification (Spearman's correlation coefficient, r = - 0.356, P < 0.01), mandibular protrusion (r = - 0.390, P < 0.01), head and neck movement (r = - 0.276, P < 0.01), interincisor gap (r = - 0.648, P < 0.01), and the condition of the upper teeth (r = - 0.313, P < 0.01). The frequency of direct blade-tooth contact significantly increased as the scales of these five anatomic measurements increased (P < 0.01).
CONCLUSIONS
This study shows for the first time that some airway measurements are correlated with blade-tooth distance, and that they can be considered as useful predictors of dental injury during laryngoscopy.
Key Words: airway anatomy; dental trauma; endotracheal intubation; laryngoscopy
TOOLS
Share :
Facebook Twitter Linked In Line it
METRICS Graph View
  • 1 Crossref
  •    
  • 1,264 View
  • 7 Download


ABOUT
ARTICLE CATEGORY

Browse all articles >

BROWSE ARTICLES
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Editorial Office
101-3503, Lotte Castle President, 109 Mapo-daero, Mapo-gu, Seoul 04146, Korea
Tel: +82-2-792-5128    Fax: +82-2-792-4089    E-mail: journal@anesthesia.or.kr                

Copyright © 2024 by Korean Society of Anesthesiologists.

Developed in M2PI

Close layer
prev next