Year: 2023
Type: review
Abstract: Background: Identifying a potentially difficult airway is crucial both in anaesthesia in the operating room (OR) and non-operation room sites. There are no guidelines or expert consensus focused on the assessment of the difficult airway before, so this expert consensus is developed to provide guidance for airway assessment, making this process more standardized and accurate to reduce airway-related complications and improve safety. Methods: Seven members from the Airway Management Group of the Chinese Society of Anaesthesiology (CSA) met to discuss the first draft and then this was sent to 15 international experts for review, comment, and approval. The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) is used to determine the level of evidence and grade the strength of recommendations. The recommendations were revised through a three-round Delphi survey from experts. Results: This expert consensus provides a comprehensive approach to airway assessment based on the medical history, physical examination, comprehensive scores, imaging, and new developments including transnasal endoscopy, virtual laryngoscopy, and 3D printing. In addition, this consensus also reviews some new technologies currently under development such as prediction from facial images and voice information with the aim of proposing new research directions for the assessment of difficult airway. Conclusions: This consensus applies to anesthesiologists, critical care, and emergency physicians refining the preoperative airway assessment and preparing an appropriate intubation strategy for patients with a potentially difficult airway.
DOI: 10.21037/hbsn-23-46
Authors: Ming Xia, Wuhua Ma, Mingzhang Zuo, Xiaoming Deng, Fushan Xue, Denise Battaglini, Vivek Aggarwal, Giustino Varrassi, Vladimir Cerny, Ida Di Giacinto, Rita Cataldo, Daqing Ma, Toru Yamamoto, Martina Rekatsina, Alessandro De Cassai, Andrea Carsetti, Marvin G. Chang, Edwin Seet, Daniel P. Davis, Michael G. Irwin, Yuguang Huang, Hong Jiang
Institutions: Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing Hospital, Plastic Surgery Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Jamia Millia Islamia, Fondazione Paolo Procacci, University Hospital Hradec Králové, Università Campus Bio-Medico, Campus Bio Medico University Hospital, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, Imperial College London, Niigata University, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Azienda Ospedale - Università Padova, Marche Polytechnic University, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria delle Marche, Massachusetts General Hospital, National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, University of Hong Kong, Peking Union Medical College Hospital
Language: English
Subfield: Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4384575259