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. 2014 Jan;8(1):73-7.
doi: 10.4103/1658-354X.125942.

Application of the upper lip catch test for airway evaluation in edentulous patients: An observational study

Zahid Hussain Khan  1 , Shahriar Arbabi  2 , Mir Saeed Yekaninejad  3 , Ramooz Hussain Khan  4
Affiliations

Application of the upper lip catch test for airway evaluation in edentulous patients: An observational study

Zahid Hussain Khan et al. Saudi J Anaesth. 2014 Jan.

Abstract

Background: Application of upper lip catch test (ULCT) for airway evaluation in edentulous patients.

Methods: This research is an evaluation of a clinical diagnostic test in edentulous patients prior to operation. Five hundred eighty eight edentulous patients in a referral university hospital, between March 2008 and June 2011 scheduled for elective surgery under general anesthesia were enrolled. Those unable to open the mouth and those with pharyngo-laryngeal pathology were excluded. ULCT was assessed and compared with Cormack-Lehane grading as a gold standard for airway evaluation.

Results: A high negative predictive value of 99.4% was a notable finding for the ULCT. The results also showed a high specificity (89.4%), high sensitivity (75.0%) and a high accuracy (89.3%) in a comparatively higher range for the ULCT.

Conclusion: The ULCT proved to be a useful predictor for airway assessment in edentulous patients in this setting. Further studies are needed to reconfirm its validity in other ethnic groups.

Keywords: Airway; Cormack-Lehane grade; difficult intubation; modified Mallampati test; upper lip catch test.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic frontal view of the upper lip catch test. the patient is instructed to protrude his mandible as far as possible so that the lower lip can reach as far near the columella as permitted by mandibular protrusion (Reproduced from Khan et al. Evaluating a patient's airway [in Response]. Anesth Analg 2003;97:915-16 by permission. Copyright 2003 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic lateral view of the upper lip catch test. Patient is instructed to protrude his mandible as far as possible so that the lower lip can reach as far near the columella as permitted by mandibular protrusion (Reproduced from Khan, et al. evaluating a patient's airway [in Response]. Anesth Analg 2003;97:915-16 by permission. Copyright 2003, Philadelphia, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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