Comparison of the Percentage of Glottic Opening (POGO) Scale to Laryngoscopy Grading Scale (LGS) and Global Difficulty of Intubation

• Published in: Academic emergency medicine 2003-05, Vol.10 (5), p.485-485
• Main Author: Bozeman, W. P
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1069-6563; 1553-2712
• DOI: 10.1197/aemj.10.5.485-a

BACKGROUND: The Percentage of Glottic Opening (POGO) scale is an estimate of the portion of the vocal cords visualized during direct laryngoscopy and has been used to evaluate intubating conditions. The anesthesiology literature recommends a standard laryngoscopy grading scale (LGS) for assessment and comparison of intubating conditions. The LGS includes 2 measures of the ease of laryngoscopy, 2 of the vocal cords, and 2 of patient reactions to intubation; it results in "good," "acceptable" or "unacceptable" intubation conditions. OBJECTIVE: We sought to validate the POGO scale by comparison to the LGS and to overall intubation difficulty. METHODS: In a prospective study of intubation conditions over a one year period, helicopter flight crew members graded each oral intubation attempt by POGO scale and the LGS. Global difficulty of intubation was assessed by a five point Likert scale of 1 (very easy) to 5 (very difficult). For analysis, POGO scores were grouped into