A comparison of thyromental height with ratio of patients height to thyromental distance and the upper lib bite test in predicting difficult laryngoscopy.

An important responsibility of the anaesthesiologist is to maintain a patent airway as failure to secure the airway and interrupt gas exchange, for even a few minutes can be fatal and catastrophic leading to permanent brain damage. Several airway predictors have been utilised to assess the airway and predict difficult laryngoscopy and intubation. The incidence of difficult laryngoscopy in literature has been reported to be 1.5% to 20%.

In this observational study we chose to evaluate and compare the newer airway indices such as the Thyromental Height, Ratio of patients height to Thyromental distance and the Upper lip bite test individually and in combination for predicting difficult laryngoscopy using the Cormack and Lehane grading system.