Background: Some anesthetized patients present with expiratory airway obstruction (EAO) during mask ventilation (MV). EAO may occur more frequently among edentulous patients for whom a firmer grip of the mask and the mandible is needed to avoid gas leakage. We compared EAO grades before and after denture removal and identified predictors of EAO during MV in edentulous patients. Methods: One hundred and eight denture-wearing edentulous patients were anesthetized, their mouths were wrapped with film, their nasal masks and mandibles were held with two hands, and their lungs were ventilated in a pressure-controlled mode. Their dentures were subsequently removed, mouths were re-wrapped, and nasal MV was reapplied. EAO was graded based on capnography waveforms as follows: Grade I, normal waveform (no obstruction); II, loss of the alveolar plateau of the waveform (partial obstruction); and III, no waveform (total obstruction). EAO grades were compared before.................
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