Identification of the difficult airway

Failure to identify a difficult airway can have serious consequences. It is essential that a thorough assessment of a patient's airway is made, including history and a focussed examination. It is known that the reliability of preoperative assessment is disappointing but positive findings will allow for an appropriate airway management plan to be devised in order to minimize airway-related complications. Despite this, situations will still occur where an unexpected difficult airway is encountered.