BACKGROUND:

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is highly prevalent. The STOP-BANG questionnaire is a simple and useful tool to screen for OSA.

AIM:

Since OSA is strongly associated with airway management troubles, we sought to determine whether the STOP-BANG can predict difficult airway management.

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

An observational, cross-sectional study was conducted including adult patients scheduled for major outpatient surgery under general anesthesia. The STOP-BANG questionnaire was preoperatively applied by a ward nurse. The Han scale mask ventilation difficulty scale, Cormack-Lehane laryngeal view scale were also applied and the need for video laryngoscopy was recorded. The number of attempts for successful insertion of a laryngeal mask airway were determined.

RESULTS:

We studied 993 patients, of whom 53% required tracheal intubation and 47% a laryngeal mask. Most patients had a low OSA risk, (STOP-BANG 2. The positive and negative likelihood ratios, (2.0 and 0.2) imply poor predictive capability.

CONCLUSIONS:

The STOP-BANG questionnaire was only able to predict difficult mask ventilation. Since its discriminative value was low, it cannot be recommended it as a single predictor.