Middle East journal of anaesthesiology
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Middle East J Anaesthesiol · Jun 2012
ReviewHyperparathyroidism, hypercalcemia and difficult laryngoscopy: a retrospective review.
The incidence of difficulty with intubation in the general population depends upon the definition used but results as high as 37% have been published. Endocrine disorders such as diabetes and hyperthyroidism have been linked to an increased incidence of difficult intubation via laryngoscopy. Hypercalcemia with resulting calcification has been demonstrated to result in neck pain, decreased cervical range of motion, and loss of skin and tendon compliance. We speculated that patients with hyperparathyroidism and resulting hypercalcemia would have an increased incidence of intubation difficulty via laryngoscopy. ⋯ To our knowledge, this is the first manuscript evaluating the impact of parathryoidectomy surgery and hypercalcemia on ease of intubation via laryngoscopy. Despite the fact that patients presenting for parathyroidecomy have many potential etiologies of increased difficulty with laryngoscopy, they do not appear to be at increased risk of laryngoscopy problems. The same is true of those patients presenting with hypercalcemia. Source(s) of support: There was no source of funding for this study. Presentation at a meeting: Society for Airway Management Annual Meeting 2009 Las Vegas NV and American Society of Anesthesiologists Annual Meeting 2010 San Diego, CA. Conflicting Interest (If present, give more details): With regard to conflict of interest, Dr. Arndt is a paid consultant for Cook Medical and receives royalties based on the sale of products that he invented.