European journal of anaesthesiology
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Multicenter Study
A simplified risk score to predict difficult intubation: development and prospective evaluation in 3763 patients.
Despite the presence of numerous preoperative tests to predict a difficult airway, there is no reliable bedside method. The aim of this study was to create and verify a simplified risk model with an acceptable discriminating power. ⋯ The new simplified multivariate risk score for difficult intubation may prove to be useful in clinical practice for predicting a difficult airway. Presence of upper front teeth, a history of difficult intubation, any Mallampati status different from '1' and equal to '4' and mouth opening less than 4 cm are independent risk factors for difficult endotracheal intubation. With each of these risk factors, the likelihood increases from 0 (when no risk factor is present) to 17% (when four or five factors are present).