The unanticipated difficult airway

In an effort to help prevent airway-related morbidity and mortality, the American Society of Anesthesiologists published practice guidelines: the difficult airway algorithm. Unfortunately, despite all the information currently available, no single factor reliably predicts these difficulties. Consequently, many difficult airways will not become recognized until after induction of general anesthesia. These are termed the unanticipated difficult airway. Care of patients presenting with unanticipated difficult airways relies on noninvasive and invasive techniques, both of which are discussed in this article.