RESUMO
Objective: To determine the frequency of difficult intubation in obese patients with neck circumference to thyromental distance ratio [NC/TM] >/=5.0
Study Design: Cross sectional study
Place and Duration of Study: Department of Anaesthesia, Forward Treatment Centre, Kel [Azad Kashmir] and Combined Military Hospital [CMH] Malir. Six months, from Jun 2015 to Nov 2015
Material and Methods: A total of 94 patients between the ages of 18 and 50 years with body mass index [BMI] >/=27.5 kg/m2 and NC/TM >/=5.0 who received general anesthesia requiring tracheal intubation for elective surgery [Orthopaedic, General Sugery, Urology and Gynaecology] were included in the study. Patients were induced general anaesthesia and orotracheal intubation was done by anaesthetist with at least 1 year experience. Number of intubation attempts were recorded in each patient. More than 3 attempts were considered difficult intubation
Results: Eighty two [87.2 percent] out of 94 obese patients with BMI >/=27.5 kg/m2 and NC/TM >/=5 had difficult intubation
Conclusion: The NC/TM >/=5 was found good predictor for difficult intubation in obese patients