Introduction

 

 

Problems with airway management (AM) during induction and maintenance of anesthesia and during emergence and recovery from anesthesia may cause injuries (6, 9) and severe morbidity and mortality (16). Many of these adverse events are preventable, provided that there are adequate equipment availability, familiarity with the devices and techniques, and formulated strategies for difficult airway (DA) management (10).

 

Expert working groups developed guidelines and recommendations for the management of the DA in order to assist the anesthesia community in decision-making and formulating departmental strategies: the American Society of Anesthesiologists task force [first published in 1993 (1) and updated in 2003 (2)], the British group [published in 2004 (11)], the Canadian group [published in 1998 (5)], the French group [published in 1996 (3)], the German group [published in 2004 (4)], and the Italian group [published in 1998 (7)].

 

There are no data available to which extend anesthesia departments in Austria adhere to published guidelines and recommendations for the management of the DA. In a comprehensive survey questionnaire for the year 2004, questions were also prepared to evaluate their AM behavior. The results of this survey were intended to establish a basis for improvements.

 

 

Materials and Methods