BACKGROUND During the course of their training, medical students may receive introductory experience with advanced resuscitation skills. Endotracheal intubation (ETI--the insertion of a breathing tube into the trachea) is an example of an important advanced resuscitation intervention. Only limited data characterize clinical ETI skill acquisition by medical students. We sought to characterize me...

BACKGROUND The intubation difficulty scale (IDS) has been used as a validated difficulty score to define difficult intubation (DI). The purpose of this study is to identify airway assessment factors and total airway score (TAS) for predicting DI defined by the IDS. METHODS There were 305 ASA physical status 1-2 patients, aged 19-70 years, who underwent elective surgery with endotracheal intub...

STUDY OBJECTIVE To compare intubation difficulty in obese and non-obese patients by intubation difficulty scale (IDS), intubation duration measurement, and oxygen saturation (SaO(2)) levels. DESIGN Prospective, controlled study. SETTING Operating room of a tertiary-care hospital. PATIENTS 204 ASA physical status I, II, and III adult patients who underwent elective surgery with endotrachea...

Goiter or thyromegaly is one of the most common causes of mid tracheal obstruction (external compression or stenosis), which may be associated with difficult larynx visualization and/or difficult airway management, depending on the goiter size, type and ingrowth into the surrounding tissue. Iodine deficiency disorders are still one of the most common causes of goiter in the population of the Af...

BACKGROUND There are no prospective studies that evaluated airway changes during labor. The purpose of this study was to evaluate airway changes in women undergoing labor and delivery. METHODS Two studies were undertaken to evaluate airway changes during labor. The first study used the conventional Samsoon modification of the Mallampati airway class. The airway was photographed at the onset a...

BACKGROUND There are few national figures on the incidence of failed tracheal intubation during general anaesthesia in obstetrics. Recent small studies have quoted a rate of one in 250 general anaesthetics (GAs). The aim of this UK national study was to estimate this rate and identify factors that may be predictors. METHODS Using the UK Obstetric Surveillance System (UKOSS) of data collection...

BACKGROUND This study was performed to assess whether intubation is more difficult in obese patients and to assess the ability of a new index: the ratio of the neck circumference to thyromental distance (NC/TM), to predict difficult intubation in obese patients. METHODS The incidence of difficult tracheal intubation in 123 obese (BMI≥27.5 kg m(-2)) and 125 non-obese patients was compared. Dif...

INTRODUCTION Obesity is a factor that is strongly related to the occurrence of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in adults, although this association remains controversial for children. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to compare the clinical and upper airway charactheristics, obtained by questionnaires, physical examination and laboratory tests, among obese children with and without OSA. ME...

Induced nasal obstruction can cause obstructive apnoeas in healthy subjects during sleep, but the relationship between nasal resistance measured during wakefulness and obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) is weak. It was postulated that if the subjects could not breathe through the nose, the oral airway must be used, but if this airway is narrowed as well, then it could precipitate sleep-di...