Supine Mallampati Beats Seated for Difficult Airway Prediction
June 19, 2017
Take this laying down
Clay Smith
Normally, the Mallampati score is performed with a patient seated, but these authors found a supine score was better at predicting a difficult airway, (AUC 0.82 supine vs 0.7 seated).
Spoon Feed
Checking a Mallampati score while supine is more accurate for predicting a difficult airway than in the seated position.
Source
Comparison of the Mallampati Classification in Sitting and Supine Position to Predict Difficult Tracheal Intubation: A Prospective Observational Cohort Study. Anesth Analg. 2017 May 19. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000002108. [Epub ahead of print]
Peer Reviewed by Thomas Davis.
