Aim: Possibility of encountering difficulty at intubation canotbe ruled out at every preanesthetic evaluation. The present study was aimed to compare the intubation difficulty scale for macintosh and truview laryngoscope blades in elective surgical patients which were deemed to have normal airway assessment.  

Methods:  Sixty patients of ASA I/II with normal airway based on certain parameters were divided in two groups A and B. A were intubated with macintosh and B with Truview blade.

Laryngeal view was assessed by Cormack Lehane grades and percentage of gottis opening score. The intubation difficulty was assessed based upon seven variables of Intubation Difficulty Scale (IDS) and compared between the two groups. IDS was primary while POGO and CL score were secondary outcome. The two groups were statistically evaluated by applying unpaired t test for parametric data and chi square test for categorical data. P<0.05 was significant.

Results: Cormack and Lehane grade 1 in 22 patients (73.3%) for group A and 27 patients (90%) in group B were recorded. The mean IDS for group A and B was 1.30±0.92 and 0.20±0.50 respectively.

Conclusions: Evaluation of airway can be assumed to complete at pre anaesthetic check up. There are multiple factors which can influence the outcome of intubation difficulty scale. One such can be the design of the blade.

Keywords: Intubation difficulty scale(IDS), Percentage of glottis opening(POGO)score and Cormack and Lehane grades(CL grade)

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Dr (Prof). Deepak Sharma

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