Airway management in obese patients: The need for lean strategies

摘要

Airway management is often the major concern of anaesthetists when presented with a morbidly obese patient for general anaesthesia. All anaesthetists are encountering increasing numbers of these patients, presenting for all types of surgery. With the particular experience gained from bariatric surgery worldwide, there is now a greater evidence base to support and guide our practice.This review article aims to provide an update of the key points in safe airway management in the obese, with a focus on pre-operative airway assessment and intra-operative airway management.