PREDICTORS OF DIFFICULT INTUBATION: STUDY IN KASHMIRI POPULATION

Airway assessment is the most important aspect of Anaesthesia practice as a difficult intubation may be unanticipated. A prospective study was done to compare the efficacy of airway parameters to predict difficult intubation viz; degree of head extension, thyromental distance, inter incisor gap, grading ofprognathism, obesity and modified mallampati test. Six hundred patients with ASA I& ASA II grade were enrolled in study. All patients were preoperatively assessed for airway parameters. Intra-operatively all patients were classified according to Cormack and Lehane laryngoscopic view. Clinical data of each test was collected, tabulated and analyzed to obtain the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value & negative predictive value. Results obtained showed incidence of difficult intubation in 3.3%. Head&neck movements had the highest sensitivity (86.36%); high arched palate had highest specificity (99.38%).Head & neck movements had highest sensitivity; high arched palate had highest specificity, however, head & neck movements strongly correlated for patients with difficult intubation.