Question

You are working in the ICU with a patient who has been slowly deteriorating secondary to urosepsis. The team has decided that intubation is imminent.

You ask the patient to open her mouth as wide as she can, and you observe the hard palate, soft palate, and just the base of the vallecula.

This is consistent with a Mallampati of:
A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4

Answer 1

Observing the hard palate, soft palate, and just the base of the vallecula when the patient opens her mouth is consistent with a Mallampati score of Class 3, indicating potential difficulty in intubation.

Step-by-step explanation:

The Mallampati score is a medical classification used to predict the ease of intubation. If you observe the hard palate, soft palate, and just the base of the vallecula when the patient opens her mouth as wide as she can, this corresponds to a Mallampati score of Class 3. The Mallampati scoring system is an anatomical classification that relates to the structures visible in the mouth which can indicate a potentially difficult airway. In this situation, scoring as a Class 3 suggests that there may be some difficulty in visualizing the larynx during intubation because the tonsillar pillars are not visible.