**3.2 Clinical assessment**

The airway assessment should start with direct observation for obesity, bearded face, pregnancy, prominent breasts, and visible external signs of head and neck disease such as large thyroid mass or Ludwigs angina. There are specific tests to predict a difficult airway; however, there is no ideal airway assessment tool due to lack of statistical predictive power of individual airway tests. These tests, however, should alert us for the potential of a difficult airway so that appropriate measures can be taken beforehand for patient safety.
