Print Email Facebook Twitter The videolaryngoscope is less traumatic than the classic laryngoscope for a difficult airway in an obese patient Title The videolaryngoscope is less traumatic than the classic laryngoscope for a difficult airway in an obese patient Author Maassen, R. Lee, R. Van Zundert, A. Cooper, R. Faculty Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering Department Biomechanical Engineering Date 2009-08-14 Abstract This report describes the anesthetic management of an obese patient with a difficult airway and the merits of videolaryngoscopy, specifically in terms of the reduced risk of dental damage during intubation. A 49-year-old woman (body mass index; BMI, 36 kg·m?2), was scheduled to undergo an elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy because of cholelithiasis. Based upon the obesity of the patient and preoperative metrics (Mallampati grade IV; interdental distance of 2.9 cm; thyromental distance, 5.5 cm) a difficult airway was anticipated. Classic direct laryngoscopy using a Macintosh blade size IV failed, despite three intubation attempts—each resulting in a Cormack-Lehane grade IV view. Intubation using a video-assisted Macintosh laryngoscope (V-Mac; Karl Storz, Tuttlingen, Germany) was successful upon the first attempt. The maximum force exerted on the patient’s maxillary incisors was 61 N by direct laryngoscopy and 7.6 N using the indirect videolaryngoscope, both using a Macintosh blade. Subject General anesthesiaIntubationVideolaryngoscopyDifficult airwayForce measurement To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:255f7330-a144-45f7-9d39-4fc861d5f680 Publisher Springer ISSN 1438-8359 Source Journal of Anesthesia, 23 (3) Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type journal article Rights (c) 2009 Springer; JSA Files PDF maassen_2009.pdf 161.12 KB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:255f7330-a144-45f7-9d39-4fc861d5f680/datastream/OBJ/view