Difficult Intubation and Tongue Protrusion

Objectives: The aim of study is to determine the possible usage of tongue movements out of the mouth in the prediction of difficult intubation. Method: Two hundred twenty three patients undergoing abdominal surgery with general anesthesia between 2014 and 2015 were enrolled in this study. Difficult intubation was evaluated using the intubation difficulty scale (IDS) score. All intubations were performed by anesthesiologist to eliminate the differences among the anesthesiologists' experiences. IDS score were evaluated by anesthesiologists who had no idea about the measurements of the tongue movements and performed laryngeal intubation in all patients. To define the tongue movements, horizontal lines were used. Horizontal line were passing through the mid points of mandible and upper lip height. Patients were asked to protrude tongue maximally and upward (PTMU), to protrude tongue maximally and downward (PTMD) in anatomical neutral position which was sitting down on a chair.