Airway management in obese patients

Airway management is often the principal concern of the majority of anaesthetists when presented with an obese patient for general anaesthesia. Many anaesthetists will be increasingly encountering obese patients requiring all types of surgery. With the expansion of bariatric surgery both worldwide and in the UK, there is now a greater evidence base to inform and guide airway management in the obese patient. This article aims to improve understanding of the term ‘difficult airway’ in the obese population and focuses primarily on evidence related to pre-operative airway assessment and intra-operative airway management in the obese patient.