Abstrakt
The appropriate, case- and patient-tailored selection of an airway management technique is one of the cornerstones of safe perioperative practice. Preparation for airway management begins with assessment of the airway and with the identification of any potentially challenging anatomical variations.
However, the currently available clinical tests have quite poor prognostic value in the prediction of difficult intubation and use of a combination of tests is recommended in order to gain better diagnostic value. At present, airway evaluation and assessment fails to completely exclude the unexpected difficult airway in daily anesthetic practice.
Recently, a strong focus has been placed on imaging methods: magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), airway ultrasound, and nasal endoscopy.