Objective:

Analyze variables associated with obese patients with difficult intubation.

Material and methods:

62 surgical patients were included obese adults, 8 airway variables were evaluated: Mallampati, tiromentoniana distance, esternomentoniana distance (DEM), oral opening, mandibular protrusion, extension of atlanto-occipital articulation, cervical diameter and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome; in the operating room after the anesthetic induction, orotracheal intubation was performed, classifying the difficulty to intubate by the number of laryngoscopes taking 2 or more attempts as difficult intubation.

Results:

17 (27.4%) patients with difficult airway; 10 (16.1%) of them with obesity grade I, the variable associated to airway difficult was the DEM, presented p = 0.01, RR 0.2 (CI95% 0.07-0.7), sensitivity of 41.1, specificity of 91.1, a positive predictive value (VPP) of 63.6 and a negative predictive value (VPN) of 80.3.

Conclusions:

The degree of obesity and BMI is not directly proportional to a difficult airway, but the D-E-M is the most useful test preoperative at the time of evaluating an airway in obese patients. Those taking an important part in the anesthesiologist skill and experience.