Airway management is a cornerstone of anesthetic practice, and difficulty with airway management has potentially grave implications-failure to secure a patent airway can result in hypoxic brain injury or death in a matter of minutes. The difficult airway in otolaryngologic surgery requires careful planning and close communication between the anesthesiologist and ENT or head and neck surgeon. Knowledge of predictive factors and a detailed preoperative evaluation can be used to predict which airway strategies are likely to be successful and which are likely to fail.
Keywords: Airway management; Airway obstruction; Difficult Airway; Difficult intubation; Head and neck pathology.
Published by Elsevier Inc.