Ultrasonography of the Airway: A Bedside Predictor of Difficult to Intubate Obese Patients

A complete airway assessment of patients requiring monitored anesthesia care, regional anesthesia or general anesthesia, identifies difficult to intubate individuals and potential complications. Ultrasound (US) is considered a noninvasive, easy to perform bedside airway assessment tool for difficult to intubate patients. We performed a review of the literature available in PubMed using keywords such as: airway management, endotracheal intubation, ultrasonography, obesity, and body mass index. Based on our literature review we concluded that ultrasound could potentially be a useful addition to the traditional methods of diagnosing difficult airways in morbidly obese patients.