Prediction of failed facemask ventilation: new scoring system for difficult airway.

BACKGROUND: We previously have shown that there was a strong correlation between failed facemask ventilation, failed ventilation through a supraglottic airway, and difficult tracheal intubation. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate whether or not an established method to predict difficult ventilation through a supraglottic airway was also useful for predicting failed facemask ventilation. METHODS: This was a single-center, retrospective observational study. We studied 28,081 anesthetized patients in whom ventilation through a facemask, and supraglottic airway was attempted as the initial technique during induction of anesthesia, between May 2011 and March 2016. For each patient, the score which had been validated to be useful for predicting difficult ventilation through a supraglottic airway was calculated. The score ranged between 0 and 7 points, and we defined a low risk when the score was 0-3, and a high risk when the score was 4-7. To measure and compare the predictive accuracy of the score, we generated a receiver operating characteristic curve and compared the area under the curve (AUC). RESULTS: The incidence of failed facemask ventilation was significantly higher in patients with high-risk predictive score than in patients with low-risk predictive score [0.38% vs 0.056%, odds ratio 6.8 (95% CI 2.6-18.1, p value = 0.002)], and the sensitivity of the score was 25%, while the specificity was 95%, with a negative predictive value of 99%. The AUC of the score was 0.71 (95% CI 0.58-0.83). CONCLUSIONS: The predictive score for difficult ventilation through a supraglottic airway is also useful to predict failed facemask ventilation.

Dental injury in anaesthesia: a tertiary hospital's experience.

BACKGROUND: Dental injury is a common perioperative complication, but there are no country specific data available, especially with the use of supraglottic airway devices (SAD). The aims of our study are to report the incidence, risk factors, and local practices in the management of perioperative dental injuries in Singapore. METHODS: We analyzed data from the departmental database from 2011 to 2014, noting the anticipated difficulty of airway instrumentation, intubation grade, pre-existing dental risk factors, location of dental trauma discovery, position of teeth injured and presence of dental referral. The risk factors for dental trauma were then identified using logistic regression (between 51 dental trauma patients and 55,107 patients without dental trauma). RESULTS: The rate of dental injury was 0.092% for general anaesthesia cases. The most significant patient risk factor is the presence of pre-existing dental risk factors (OR 12.55). Anaesthetic risk factors include McGrath MAC usage (OR 2.51) and a Cormack and Lehane grade of 3 or more (OR 7.25). Most of the dental injuries were discovered in the operating theatre. 7 (13.7%) patients had SAD inserted and only 23 (45.1%) cases were referred to dental services. CONCLUSION: Videolaryngoscopy with the McGrath MAC is associated with an increased likelihood of dental injury. This could be either because videolarygoscopes were used when increased risk of dental trauma was anticipated, or due to incorrect technique of laryngoscopy. Future studies should be done to establish the causality. The management of dental injuries could be improved with development of departmental guidelines.

How patients fare after anaesthesia for elective surgery: a survey of postoperative nausea and vomiting, pain and confusion.

INTRODUCTION: Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), and postoperative pain are common during the early postoperative period. In addition to these problems, elderly patients risk developing postoperative confusion. This study aimed to identify the risk factors associated with these problems, and the extent of these problems, in a Singapore inpatient surgical population. METHODS: Over a period of six weeks, we surveyed 707 elective surgical inpatients aged ≥ 18 years who received general anaesthesia and/or regional anaesthesia. RESULTS: The incidence of PONV was 31.8% (95% confidence interval [CI] 34.8-41.9). The incidence increased with increasing Apfel score (p < 0.001) and were higher in female patients (odds ratio [OR] 1.74, 95% CI 1.28-2.36), non-smokers (OR 1.72, 95% CI 1.04-2.88), patients with a history of PONV and/or motion sickness (OR 3.45, 95% CI 2.38-5.24), patients who received opioids (OR 1.39, 95% CI 1.03-1.88), and patients who received general anaesthesia (OR 1.76, 95% CI 1.11-2.79). Moderate to severe pain at rest and with movement were reported in 19.9% and 52.5% of patients, respectively. Among the patients who were predicted to experience mild pain, 29.5% reported moderate pain and 8.1% reported severe pain. The prevalence of postoperative confusion was 3.9% in the geriatric population. CONCLUSION: Higher Apfel scores were associated with a higher risk of PONV and multimodal treatment for postoperative pain management was found to be insufficient. The incidence of postoperative confusion was low in this study.