Bedside preoperative predictors of difficult laryngeal exposure in microlaryngeal surgery

Successful microlaryngeal surgery relies on an adequate laryngeal exposure. Recognizing the likelihood of challenging exposure prior to microlaryngeal surgery may assist in selecting the appropriate surgical approach and even prompt consideration of alternative treatment options. We aim to apply the mini-Laryngoscore, a preoperative assessment tool, to our study population and incorporate novel variables to optimize the prediction model.

This single-center prospective cohort study included 80 consecutive patients undergoing elective microlaryngeal surgery, from January 1, to June 30, 2023. Each patient underwent a presurgical evaluation of 15 parameters and an intraoperative scoring of the anterior commissure visualization. These parameters were assessed for their association with difficult laryngeal exposure, using multiple logistic regression analysis. We created a novel prediction model for DLE and compared it with the existing model, the mini-Laryngoscore.

Out of 80 patients, 24 (30%) patients had difficult laryngeal exposure, including 3 cases (3.8%) in which visualization of the anterior commissure was not possible. A large neck diameter (OR, 1.4; CI 1.1–1.9) and the presence of upper teeth (OR, 8.9; CI 1.3–62.8) were independent risk factors for a difficult laryngeal exposure, while a larger interincisors gap was the only independent protector factor (OR, 0.3; CI 0.1–0.8). The logistic regression model combining these three independent risk factors displayed a high discriminative value AUC = 0.89 (CI 0.81–0.97). The predictive performance of the mini-Laryngoscore was 0.73 (CI 0.62–0.85).

Combining two parameters from the mini-Laryngoscore (upper jaw dental state and interincisors gap distance) with neck circumference measurement can accurately predict the risk of difficult laryngeal exposure.