Airway difficulty in Mallampati 'class zero' patients: a prospective double-blind observational study.

Context: Assessment of Mallampati class is an integral part of preoperative airway evaluation. Increasing Mallampati class is known to be associated with greater difficulty with intubation, but some cases of airway difficulty in Mallampati 'class zero' patients have been reported.

Objective(s): We undertook this study to evaluate intubation difficulty and to correlate this with indirect laryngoscopy findings in Mallampati class zero patients.