Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Sep 2009
The diagnostic value of the upper lip bite test combined with sternomental distance, thyromental distance, and interincisor distance for prediction of easy laryngoscopy and intubation: a prospective study.
Accuracy of upper lip bite test (ULBT) has been compared with the Mallampati classification. In this study, we investigated whether the combination of the ULBT classification with sternomental distance (SMD), thyromental distance (TMD), and interincisor distance (IID) or a composite score can improve the ability to predict easy laryngoscopy and intubation compared with each test alone. ⋯ We conclude that the specificity and accuracy of the ULBT is significantly higher than the other tests and is more accurate in airway assessment. However, the ULBT in conjunction with the other tests could more reliably predict easy laryngoscopy or intubation.