pulmonary

Difficult Airway Assessment

Estimate the likelihood of difficult laryngoscopy or intubation before induction. Evaluate five LEMON criteria and receive a risk level with airway strategy guidance.

Based on: ASA 2022 · DAS 2015

Input

Intubation difficulty

Factors affecting glottic visualization

Ventilation difficulty

Factors making mask ventilation difficult

Apnea intolerance

Factors affecting SpO₂ desaturation rate

Aspiration risk

Risk of gastric content aspiration

Rescue difficulty

Difficulty of emergency surgical airway

Overview

Systematically evaluate airway planning risk across five clinical domains before induction. A clinical decision framework — not a scoring system.

Evidence Summary

Assessment framework

This tool integrates established concepts including Mallampati classification, LEMON assessment, and difficult mask ventilation risk factors. Rather than a single score, it evaluates five clinical domains to answer: 'Is it safe to induce anesthesia?'

  • Intubation difficulty and ventilation difficulty are independent risk domains
  • Difficult ventilation + low oxygen reserve = highest-risk combination
  • Rescue difficulty combined with any other risk can be life-threatening

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