Airway Management: From Basic Techniques to Innovative Technologies

A special issue of Journal of Clinical Medicine (ISSN 2077-0383). This special issue belongs to the section "Intensive Care".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 September 2025 | Viewed by 302

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Division of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Anaesthesiology and Pain Management, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
Interests: physiologically difficult airway; airway management; critical illness; patient outcomes; perioperative care; substance use disorders

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Guest Editor
Department of Anaesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain, Tata Memorial Hospital, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, India
Interests: physiologically difficult airway; airway management; critical illness; hemodynamic monitoring; sepsis and end of life care

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Airway management for surgical procedures under general anesthesia as well as in critically ill patients has significant challenges and may be associated with poor patient outcomes. Clinicians involved with airway management have to take into account anatomic, physiological, and/ or logistical challenges during this process. While traditional approaches to airway management have stood the test of times, the advent of new techniques, devices, and technologies in this field is likely to impact patient outcomes in a positive way. Innovations in patient and airway operator optimization, performance of the procedure, and post tracheal intubation care are essential to advancing the field of airway management. The aim of this Special Issue is to provide a comprehensive overview of some of the time-tested basic techniques of airway management, while also discussing some of the newer advances in this field, along with future opportunities for innovation. Therefore, clinicians involved with airway management are encouraged to submit their original research and review articles to this Special Issue.

Dr. Kunal Karamchandani
Prof. Dr. Sheila Nainan Myatra
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • airway management
  • physiologically difficult airway
  • videolaryngoscopy
  • esophageal intubation
  • artificial intelligence

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

13 pages, 1079 KiB  
Article
Ultrasound-Measured Skin-to-Epiglottis Distance as a Predictor of Difficult Intubation in Obese Patients: A Prospective Observational Study
by Kazım Ersin Altınsoy and Bahar Uslu Bayhan
J. Clin. Med. 2025, 14(6), 2092; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm14062092 - 19 Mar 2025
Viewed by 195
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Difficult intubation is a significant clinical issue in emergency medicine as well as anesthesia practice, occurring more frequently in obese patients. Traditional assessment methods may not be sufficient to predict difficult intubation. This study aims to evaluate the ability of ultrasound-measured [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Difficult intubation is a significant clinical issue in emergency medicine as well as anesthesia practice, occurring more frequently in obese patients. Traditional assessment methods may not be sufficient to predict difficult intubation. This study aims to evaluate the ability of ultrasound-measured skin-to-epiglottis distance (SED) to predict difficult laryngoscopy in obese patients and investigate its applicability in clinical practice. Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted between February 2024 and January 2025 at Gaziantep City Hospital on obese patients undergoing bariatric surgery. Patients aged 18 years and older with an American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification of I-II-III were included in the study. Demographic data, standard airway assessment parameters (neck circumference, thyromental distance, sternomental distance, etc.), and ultrasound-measured skin-to-epiglottis distance were recorded. All intubation procedures were performed by a single experienced anesthesiologist following standard protocols, and laryngoscope view was assessed according to the Cormack–Lehane classification. Results: Among the 61 patients included in the study, 16.4% were classified as having a difficult airway, and 13.1% experienced difficult intubation. No significant correlation was found between standard airway assessment parameters and difficult intubation. However, ultrasound-measured skin-to-epiglottis distance (SED) was significantly higher in patients with difficult intubation (p = 0.004), making it a strong predictor. Additionally, modified Mallampati (p < 0.001), modified Cormack–Lehane (p = 0.003), and Wilson scores (p = 0.001) were significant in predicting difficult airway, although Wilson score was not significant for difficult intubation (p = 0.099). Conclusions: Our study suggests that ultrasound-measured skin-to-epiglottis distance may be a valuable predictor of difficult intubation in obese patients. Given the limitations of preoperative assessment methods, incorporating ultrasound into airway evaluation as a complementary tool provides significant benefits. Larger-scale studies in the future are necessary to further assess the clinical efficacy of this method. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Airway Management: From Basic Techniques to Innovative Technologies)
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