USE OF VIDEOLARYNGOSCOPY AND VIDIAC (VIDEOLARYNGOSCOPIC INTUBATION AND DIFFICULT AIRWAY CLASSIFICATION) SCORE FOR PREDICTING VIDEOLARYNGOSCOPE ASSISTED DIFFICULT INTUBATION IN PATIENTS - A PROSPECTIVE OBSERVATIONAL STUDY

Effective airway management is the cornerstone of perioperative patient safety. Difficult airway remains a common challenge for Anesthesiologists, Intensivists, Emergency physicians and Otolaryngologists. Treating patients with difficult airway following an airway management algorithm helps to reduce the incidence of airway-related complications. Anesthesiologists as well as a range of professionals should develop appropriate strategies according to their own experience, patient status, type of surgery and available airway devices to achieve reliable preoperative evaluation and effective intraoperative monitoring to maximize the degree of patient safety. This study is planned to evaluate the patient’s airway for assessing the difficulty associated with the intubation using videolaryngoscopy and establishing a VIDIAC score for labelling the cases of  difficult intubation and hence enabling the concerned clinicians to have proper strategy during procedures in future in order to avoid complications and minimize morbidity..