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Thyromental distance ("Patil") revisited : Knowledge and performance of a basic airway screening tool among European anesthetists.
Journal article

Thyromental distance ("Patil") revisited : Knowledge and performance of a basic airway screening tool among European anesthetists.

  • Ilper H Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy, University Hospital, Frankfurt, Germany. Hendrik.ilper@web.de.
  • Grossbach A Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine, Emergency and Pain Medicine, Canton Hospital of St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland.
  • Franz-Jäger C Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy, University Hospital, Frankfurt, Germany.
  • Byhahn C Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Medical Campus, University of Oldenburg, Protestant Hospital, Oldenburg, Germany.
  • Klages M Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy, University Hospital, Frankfurt, Germany.
  • Ackermann HH Institute for Biostatistics and Mathematical Modelling, Goethe-University, Frankfurt, Germany.
  • Zacharowski K Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy, University Hospital, Frankfurt, Germany.
  • Kunz T Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy, University Hospital, Frankfurt, Germany.
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  • 2018-02-03
Published in:
  • Der Anaesthesist. - 2018
Airway
Difficult laryngoscopy
Guidelines
Noninvasive predictor
Adult
Airway Management
Anesthesiologists
Clinical Competence
Europe
Female
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Humans
Intubation, Intratracheal
Male
Mandible
Middle Aged
Prospective Studies
Thyroid Gland
English Predicting and managing the difficult airway is a lifesaving and vital basic task for the anesthetist. Current guidelines of all important societies include thyromental distance (TMD, "Patil") as a possible predictor for a difficult airway and includes two important aspects for airway management: the mandibular space and the flexibility of the cervical spine. We evaluated knowledge and execution regarding TMD for predicting a difficult airway on participants at the Euroanaesthesia (ESA) congress and German Anaesthesia Congress (DAC) in 2014. Our evaluation consisted of a theoretical part with questions regarding general knowledge and a practical evaluation with anesthetists performing on a human airway model. Practical evaluations were performed separately from other participants. During the DAC 245 (ESA 230) physicians participated, of which 64% were male (ESA 58%). At the DAC 182 (74.3%) and ESA 82 (35.6%) participants knew about Patil/TMD. Its use as a predictive score for a difficult airway was known by 122 (49.8%; DAC) and 79 (34.4%; ESA) participants. The correct definition for intubation was given by 45 (25.7%) at the DAC and 56 (24.3%) at ESA. Only 40-41% of the participants measured the correct distance for TMD. Only 6.1-6.5% completed both the theoretical and practical parts correctly. As non-invasive TMD includes two different aspects of patient airways and is part of current guidelines, education and training must be extended to assure adequate evaluation in the future.
Language
  • English
Open access status
closed
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/576
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