Laryngoscopy and fibreoptic intubation in acromegalic patients
Abstract
Acromegaly is recognized as a cause of difficulty in airway management and tracheal intubation. We evaluated prospectively the conditions for laryngoscopy and fibreoptic intubation in 15 acromegalic patients. Each patient served as his or her own control. Ventilation of the lungs with a face mask was successful in all patients. In five of 15 patients the vocal cords could not be seen using the Macintosh laryngoscope with a size 5 blade. Difficult laryngoscopy was associated significantly with the number of attempts required to see the vocal cords with the fibrescope (P < 0.01, Spearman rank correlation). The larynx could not be seen with both techniques in one patient, and the trachea was intubated blindly with the help of an introducer. Our results showed that fibreoptic intubation may prove difficult or fail in acromegalic patients. Difficulties in seeing the vocal cords with a fibrescope were present most often in patients who also had probable intubation difficulties with a rigid laryngoscope.
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a clinical trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 3 of 5 (Moderate · trial / cohort / secondary analysis). Trials without a large randomized design, cohorts and secondary analyses give moderate evidence. Reported size: 15 participants or records.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Preliminary Toxicity Analysis of 3DCRT versus IMRT on the High Dose Arm of the RTOG 0126 Prostate Cancer Trial
- Adaptive Radiotherapy for Head and Neck Cancer: Initial Clinical Outcomes from a Prospective Trial
- American Association of Physicists in Medicine Task Group 263: Standardizing Nomenclatures in Radiation Oncology
- Motion Management Strategies and Technical Issues Associated with Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy of Thoracic and Upper Abdominal Tumors: A Review from NRG Oncology
- High-dose-rate interstitial brachytherapy as a monotherapy for localized prostate cancer: treatment description and preliminary results of a phase I/II clinical trial
- Highly efficient training, refinement, and validation of a knowledge-based plan quality control system for radiotherapy clinical trials
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.