LEMON Airways Assessment Method.
The tool developed to determine which patients might pose airway management difficulties is the LEMON method.
The authors of this study from Scotland developed an airway assessment score based on this method and determined the score's utility in predicting difficult airways in the ED.
The authors of this study from Scotland developed an airway assessment score based on this method and determined the score's utility in predicting difficult airways in the ED.
The score, with a maximum of 10 points, was calculated by assigning 1 point for each of the following LEMON criteria:
L = Look externally (facial trauma, large incisors, beard or moustache, and large tongue)
E = Evaluate the 3-3-2 rule (incisor distance < 3 fingerbreadths, hyoid/mental distance < 3 fingerbreadths, thyroid-to-mouth distance < 2 fingerbreadths)
M = Mallampati (Mallampati score ≥ 3)
O = Obstruction (presence of any condition that could cause an obstructed airway)
N = Neck mobility (limited neck mobility).
Patients with predicted difficult intubation have significantly higher LEMON scores.
