title: Indirect laryngoscopic assessment for the diagnosis of difficult intubation in patients undergoing microlaryngeal surgery.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study is to investigate the feasibility of using indirect laryngoscopy for the diagnosis of difficult intubations in patients who are undergoing microlaryngeal surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  In the pre-anesthetic examination the thyromental distance, sternomental distance, interincisor distance, neck circumference, modified Mallampati scores, and Wilson risk scores were measured. An otolaryngologist conducted an indirect laryngoscopic assessment. Direct laryngoscopic profiles were classified according to their Cormack-Lehane scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty patients underwent microlaryngeal surgery. Their mean ages, neck circumferences, Cormack-Lehane scores of the patients who had intubation difficulties were statistically significantly higher than those who did not have intubation difficulties (p < 0.05). The significant differences between the indirect laryngoscopic assessment distributions of patients who either had or did not have intubation difficulty were assessed (p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Indirect laryngoscopic assessment is a simple and valuable technique that can be used for the diagnosis of difficult intubation in patients who are undergoing microlaryngeal surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Bagcılar Training and Research Hospital, 34200, Bagcilar, Istanbul, Turkey. meltem72_3@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Meltem
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Türkay
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Bagcılar Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Tülin
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Şentürk
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Bagcılar Training and Research Hospital, 34200, Bagcilar, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Birsen Yigit
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Arslan
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Bagcılar Training and Research Hospital, 34200, Bagcilar, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hacer
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yeter
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Bagcılar Training and Research Hospital, 34200, Bagcilar, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet Salih
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Sevdi
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Bagcılar Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Salih
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aydın
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Bagcılar Training and Research Hospital, 34200, Bagcilar, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ismail
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gergin
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Bagcılar Training and Research Hospital, 34200, Bagcilar, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Kerem
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Erkalp
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007442:Intubation, Intratracheal / Q000379:methods*; D007818:Laryngeal Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D007828:Laryngoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008866:Microsurgery / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Difficult airway; Indirect laryngoscopy; Microlaryngeal surgery