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Despite the availability of many methods for airway assessment, unexpectedly difficult intubations occur at a frequency of up to 8%. To determine if sublingual ultrasound could improve prediction of a difficult airway, researchers evaluated the correlation between inability to visualize the hyoid bone on ultrasound and glottic view at the time of intubation. One hundred ten elective surgery patients performed sublingual ultrasound on themselves under an anesthesiologist's instruction. Anesthesiologists assessed thyromental and mouth opening distances, neck mobility, modified Mallampati score, and Cormack-Lehane classification.
Failure to visualize the hyoid bone on sublingual ultrasound had a sensitivity of 70% and specificity of 97% for pre…