Modified Mallampati Classification
Grades the oropharyngeal view on the four-class modified Mallampati scale.
Open the calculator → Runs in your browser. Data leaves only if you deliberately send a problem report from the interactive tool.
Example
- What is visible
- 3
Result: Modified Mallampati class III
The tool opens with these values already filled in. Replace them with your own.
What the result means
- Class I
- Soft palate, fauces, uvula and pillars visible. Usually an easy direct laryngoscopy.
- Class II
- Soft palate, fauces and uvula visible; the pillars are hidden by the tongue. Usually an easy direct laryngoscopy.
- Class III
- Soft palate and only the base of the uvula visible. Associated with a difficult direct laryngoscopy.
- Class IV
- Hard palate only. Associated with the greatest difficulty at direct laryngoscopy.
- What it is worth
- Pooled over 55 studies and 177,088 patients: sensitivity 0.35, specificity 0.91 for difficult intubation. About two thirds of difficult airways look reassuring.
- Not alone
- The meta-analysis found it inadequate as a stand-alone test; it belongs inside a multivariable assessment. A reassuring class is NOT clearance.
- Original vs modified
- Mallampati 1985 had THREE classes. Class IV was added by Samsoon and Young in 1987, and the four-class version is what is meant today.
What you enter
- What is visible
How this is calculated
Mallampati SR, Gatt SP, Gugino LD, et al. Can Anaesth Soc J. 1985;32(4):429-434, as modified by Samsoon GL, Young JR. Anaesthesia. 1987;42(5):487-490. Performance: Lundstrom LH, et al. Br J Anaesth. 2011;107(5):659-667. Read the source ↗
A reference and educational tool. Not medical, legal, or financial advice, and not a substitute for clinician judgment.