Retrospective Analysis Of Incidence Of Difficult Endotracheal Intubation And Associated Complications In St. Paul’s General Specialized Hospital From January 2009 To January 2012 G.C.

Abstract

Background: management of difficult airway remains one of the most relevant and challenging tasks for anesthesiologists and pulmonary physicians. Every person who will be required to perform intubation has to be familiar with the evaluation of difficult airway and in the event of the unanticipated difficult airway, to be able to use a wide variety of tools and techniques to avoid complications and fatality. Objective: The objective of the study was to determine incidence of difficult endotracheal intubation in patients who underwent elective general anesthesia procedure with endotracheal intubation and associated complications with difficult intubation Methods: Retrospective review of all elective cases who underwent general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation was reviewed based on anesthesia medical records from January 2009 to January 2012 G.C. Results: The result of my study shows that 1954(55.5%) Mallampati class I, 1058(30.0%) Mallampati class II, 316(9%) Mallampati class III and 192(5.5%) Mallampati class IV. A total of 1385(39.5%) males and 2135(60.5%) females were reviewed. Greater numbers of patients were between the age ranges of 18 to 64 years (1561) with female predominance Conclusion: There was no perfect predictor of difficult intubation. Incidence of difficult tracheal intubation is higher in obstetric population due to hormonally induced soft tissue changes rather than other anatomical factors