Liu B, Song Y, Liu K, et al. - In this investigation involving 104 patients, researchers sought to distinguish the preoperative radiological indicators to predict the application of assistant techniques during intubation for patients undergoing selective cervical surgery. Patients were divided into Macintosh laryngoscopy group (n = 78) and Assistant technique group (n = 26) based on whether the intubation was effectively performed by simple Macintosh laryngoscopy. Radiographical data of patients were measured by their preoperative X-ray and MRI images, and compared the variations between two groups. Ten variables showed significant statistical differences between two groups. On the basis of the logistic regression model, four further showed correlation with the application of assistant techniques, ie, perpendicular distance from hard palate to tip of upper incisor (X2), atlanto-occipital gap (X9), angle between a line passing through posterior-superior point of hard palate and the lowest point of the occipital bone and a line passing through the anterior-inferior point and the posterior-inferior point of the second cervical vertebral body (Angle E), and distance from skin to hyoid bone (MRI 7). Four radiological variables had the ability to predict the use of assistant intubation techniques. Anaesthesiologists are encouraged to apply assistant techniques more positively once encountering the mentioned cut-off values.