NCT07185516

Airway Ultrasound Indices for Prediction of Difficult Laryngoscopy in Pediatric Patients

Airway Ultrasound Indices Versus Clinical Assessment for Prediction of Difficult Laryngoscopy in Elective Surgical Pediatric Patients

• Status: Enrolling By Invitation
• Phase: —
• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 130 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Ain Shams University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 7 Years – 12 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The goal of this observational study is to compare the airway ultrasound indices and the preoperative clinical airway assessment concerning the difficult laryngoscopic view in paediatric patients undergoing elective surgery under general anaesthesia The main question it aims to answer is: • Do airway ultrasound indices better predict difficult laryngoscopic view in paediatric patients than clinical airway assessment?

Detailed description

Airway-related morbidity, as a result of an inability to anticipate a difficult airway, remains the primary concern for an anesthesiologist. Various clinical measurements and methods, such as the thyromental distance (TMD), sternomental distance, horizontal length of the mandible, head and neck movement, and the Mallampati score, were used to predict difficult laryngoscopy and intubation in adult patients. However, using these measurements in the pediatric population is not as easy as in adults. The use of airway sonography has been extended as an assessment tool for a difficult airway. Various parameters like tongue thickness, anterior soft tissue thickness, and hyomental distance ratio have been used to predict a difficult airway. However, the usefulness of ultrasonography to predict a difficult airway in infants and children has still not been described. This study will compare the effectiveness of clinical measurements to the ultrasound indices in predicting difficult laryngoscopic view in paediatric patients.

Conditions

• Airway Ultrasound Indices
• Clinical Airway Assessment

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Airway ultrasound indices	Tongue thickness, hyomental distance in neutral position (HMDRn), hyomental distance in extended position (HMDRe), ratio of hyomental distance in both positions (HMDR), thyromental distance (TMD), ratio of tongue thickness to thyromental distance (TT/TMD), epiglottis thickness \&pre-epiglottic space thickness
OTHER	Clinical airway assessment	Mallampati grading and thyromental distance (TMD). The glottic structures displayed during laryngoscopy will be classified according to the Cormack-Lehane

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-01-01
• Primary completion: 2025-12-01
• Completion: 2025-12-01
• First posted: 2025-09-22
• Last updated: 2025-09-22

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Egypt