Mallampati score

The Mallampati classification or the Mallampati test (introduced in 1985 by Seshagir Mallampati ) is used to estimate the level of difficulty of endotracheal intubation before anesthesia. Sitting for examination or is the awake patient and puts out the tongue with a neutral head position maximum from the mouth to move without phonation and without the head.

Originally divided into three levels of difficulty, today is often the modification by Samsoon and Young in use, which has four levels:

• I: full visibility of the soft palate, the uvula and the lateral palatine arches
• II: lateral palatine arches and tip of the uvula no longer visible

By assessing the visibility of different structures of the throat with the mouth open a difficult intubation in advance to be recognized. However, the correlation is not with the level of difficulty of intubation and direct view of the glottis during intubation ( Cormack and Lehane classification after ) are particularly high. Also in combination with other evidence ( short, thick neck of the patient, receding chin, small head and neck mobility, small mouth opening), only about half of patients can be identified in which intubation is difficult.