Difficult mask ventilation (MV) is common in the obese population and can result in patient morbidity and mortality. The Articulating Oral Airway (AOA) is a novel oral airway which actively displaces the tongue, allowing for a greater cross-sectional area for MV. The investigators hypothesize that, while using the same ventilatory pressure in neuromuscularly blocked patients with predictors for difficult mask ventilation, MV with an AOA will not result in smaller expired tidal volumes than MV with a similarly sized Guedel oral airway (GDA). In other words, the AOA will be non-inferior to the GDA in terms of expired tidal volumes.
The Articulating Oral Airway (AOA) is a novel oral airway which actively displaces the tongue, allowing for a greater cross-sectional area for mask ventilation. The investigators hypothesize that, in patients with predictors for difficult mask ventilation, the AOA will be non-inferior to the Geudel oral airway in terms of expired tidal volumes.