Causes of the difficult airway.

Recognizing a potentially difficult airway is important in avoiding a life-threatening emergency. There are 2 separate scenarios for considering the difficult airway: difficult mask ventilation (DMV) and difficult tracheal intubation (DTI). DMV can be described as lacking the ability to maintain oxygen saturation or lacking the ability to reverse signs of inadequate ventilation with positive-pressure mask ventilation under general anesthesia. DTI remains constant among anesthesia-related patient injuries, and is the third most common respiratory-related episode leading to death and possible brain damage. It is important to preoperatively assess every patient by completing a full history and physical. A thorough history can provide clues in detecting a possible difficult airway. Airway impairment has been further subdivided into the anatomic regions that affect the airway, namely above the larynx, supraglottic, glottic, subglottic, and tracheobronchial. This article discusses the factors that can result in a difficult airway. Copyright 2010. Published by Elsevier Inc.