modified Mallampati classification
Surgery and anaesthesia
Also known as: Mallampati-Klassifikation · Mallampati-Score · Mallampati sınıflaması · Modified Mallampati classification (airway assessment)
What it is for
The modified Mallampati classification grades which oropharyngeal structures are visible with the patient sitting, mouth fully open and tongue maximally protruded (classically without phonation). Classes:
Classification
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Class I | soft palate, fauces, the whole uvula and the tonsillar pillars visible. |
| Class II | soft palate, fauces and uvula visible (pillars not). |
| Class III | soft palate and only the base of the uvula visible. |
| Class IV | soft palate not visible; only the hard palate is seen. |
| Note | higher classes describe a poorer oropharyngeal view; the class is one bedside item of airway assessment and is distinct from the Cormack-Lehane grade, which describes the view at laryngoscopy. |
Source
Difficult tracheal intubation: a retrospective study
Anaesthesia 1987;42:487–490 (Samsoon GL, Young JR)
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2044.1987.tb04039.x
PMID: 3592174
- Edition
- Modified Mallampati (Samsoon and Young 1987, four classes) of the original three-class Mallampati 1985 test
- Checked on
Summary of the published classification in our own words. Not a substitute for the original publication.
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