Preoperative Fibroscopy as a Predictor of the Difficulty of Laryngoscopy and Intubation

This is a prospective, single-center, observational study. Aim of this study is the evaluation of preoperative transnasal fiberoscopy as a predictor of difficult laryngoscopy and intubation during elective general anesthesia in an adult population. Unexpected difficult of failed intubation is a serious, and potentially fatal, occurrence at the induction of general anesthesia. However, current strategies used to predict the ease of intubation are still not sufficiently sensitive and specific.

Patients undergoing a scheduled ENT (Ear-Nose-Throat) surgical intervention are subjected to a transnasal fibescopy, a minimally invasive examination, as a part of a normal ENT evaluation before surgery, according to the guidelines of the recruiting center.

During fiberoscopy, the investigators are collecting many anatomical and functional data about the upper airways of the patient. These data include the collapse of the upper airway during the Muller maneuver, the Cormack - Lehane scale as seen in fiberoscopy, the anatomy of the glottis and epiglottis.

The investigators are also collecting data about the preoperative evaluation made by the Anesthesiologist as well as the effective difficulty of laryngoscopy and intubation encountered at the induction of general anaesthesia, expressed by the Cormack - Lehane scale and the Intubation Difficulty Scale (IDS) as described in literature.

General anesthesia will be performed as usual and will not be influenced by fiberoptic evaluation as the Anesthesiologist will be blind to it, and he/she will be free to choose the best anesthesiological plan for his/her patient; whether an elective awake intubation will be chosen, this will exclude the patient from the study.