Anesthesiology
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Multicenter Study
Frequency and Risk Factors for Difficult Intubation in Women Undergoing General Anesthesia for Cesarean Delivery: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Analysis.
Estimates for the incidence of difficult intubation in the obstetric population vary widely, although previous studies reporting rates of difficult intubation in obstetrics are older and limited by smaller samples. The goals of this study were to provide a contemporary estimate of the frequency of difficult and failed intubation in women undergoing general anesthesia for cesarean delivery and to elucidate risk factors for difficult intubation in women undergoing general anesthesia for cesarean delivery. ⋯ In this large, multicenter, contemporary study of more than 14,000 general anesthetics for cesarean delivery, an overall risk of difficult intubation of 1:49 and a risk of failed intubation of 1:808 were observed. Most risk factors for difficult intubation were nonobstetric in nature. These data demonstrate that difficult intubation in obstetrics remains an ongoing concern.