[The problem of the difficult intubation]

Endotracheal intubation has become widespread routine in modern anaesthesiology and intensive care. Nevertheless, there are still patients in whom endotracheal intubation fails or is hampered by anatomical malformations. In these cases "conventional" attempts at intubation are not only time-consuming but also involve considerable risk for the patient, including total failure. Moreover these techniques (e.g., blind nasal) require a highly skilled performer as well as a good deal of luck. Under such circumstances, fiberoptic endotracheal intubation is the method of choice. This technique is easy to perform even by untrained persons, achieves a high rate of success and nearly totally lacks special hazards. The practical points of the procedure are outlined and possible problems discussed, which, however, are rare.