The Effect of Position on Mallampati Airway Assessment Test in the Prediction of Difficult Mask Ventilation

Background: The responsibility of the anesthesiologist is to maintain airway patency for better oxygenation. Perhaps the most dangerous incident for the anesthesiologist, are encountering the scenario in which intubation and ventilation in a patient are impossible. The study of mask ventilation is far more limited. The first significant manuscript focused on mask ventilation was published in 2000. In this study we studied the effect of position on the Mallampati class, and its accuracy in the prediction of difficult mask ventilation. Methods: After ethics committee approval; Three hundred thirty patients were examined, in both supine and upright positions for the assessment of the Mallampati airway class. The results of the two different situations were evaluated for the prediction of difficult mask ventilation. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were obtained. Results: In this study, 88 (26.66%) patients had difficult mask ventilation. (21.21%) with grade 2. Evaluation of the Mallampati classification in different positions. The sensitivity did not show a significant difference but the specificity was found to be the highest in the supine position. The negative predictive value was observed to be 85% in the supine position versus 65% in an upright position, and the positive predictive value 49% versus 46% in supine versus upright respectively. Conclusions: The highest correlation was detected in the supine position and Mallampati airway assessment test in the prediction of difficult mask ventilation.