A Study of Application of Preoperative Clinical Predictors of Difficult Laryngeal Exposure for Microlaryngoscopy: The Laryngoscore in the Indian Population

Abstract

Good exposure for visualisation of the glottis is an essential prerequisite for effective microlaryngoscopy. There is no definitive clinical predictor scoring system to predict difficult microlaryngoscopy. The aim of the study was to study the validity of the Laryngoscore scoring system as a preoperative clinical predictor score in Indian population for difficult laryngeal exposure during microlaryngoscopy. A prospective study was carried out in 32 patients undergoing microlaryngoscopy in a tertiary care hospital who were evaluated by a standardized preoperative assessment protocol (Laryngoscore) which included 11 parameters interincisors gap, thyro-mental distance, upper jaw dental status, trismus, mandibular prognathism, macroglossia, micrognathia, degree of neck flexion–extension, history of previous open-neck and/or radiotherapy, Mallampati’s modified score, and body mass index. Each parameter was assessed to obtain a total score (Maximum–17). Patients were divided into five classes according to the anterior commissure visualization: class 0 to class IV. Class 0 being complete and class IV being impossible AC visualization. When the Laryngoscore was < 6, good laryngeal exposure was observed in 94% of patients. Laryngoscore had a sensitivity of 87.5% and specificity of 75% in predicting difficult laryngeal exposure. The positive and negative predictive values of the same are 53.8% and 94.7% respectively. Our study found that the Laryngoscore scoring system as a preoperative indicator for predictor of Difficult Laryngeal Exposure during Micro Laryngeal surgeries is very useful in the Indian population.