Stany zagrożenia życia w ostrych zapaleniach krtani u dzieci – ocena epidemiologii i postępowania

Krzysztof Ślączka, *Lidia Zawadzka-Głos

Summary
Acute laryngitis is considered one of the most common infectious disease of the upper respiratory tract in children. Airway obstruction as the complication of acute laryngitis in children may be extremely dangerous due to the differences in the anatomy of a child larynx. Consequently, larynx and trachea infections that may lead to the airway obstruction and respiratory failure in child are the most important conditions in pediatric clinical practice. These include viral croup, acute epiglottitis and bacterial tracheitis. The newest epidemiological data and statistics are presented with special reference to the Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine and its influence on frequency of acute epiglottitis. Strong effectiveness of the vaccine was proved in all research papers. Moreover, it was suggested, that there is a rise in cases of bacterial tracheitis in children as a potentially life-threatening infectious respiratory failure. In viral croup cases, depending on the child condition, inhalation of cold air, oral or intravenous glucocorticoids and nebulized adrenaline are proposed. However, in bacterial infections, there is a recommendation to use antibiotics and airway management if needed. The knowledge of typical symptoms of the disease is important to begin a reasonable treatment. In case of medical emergency, regardless of the disease type, there is always an immediate need of airway management and the respiratory tract assessment with direct laryngoscopy or bronchoscopy. Effective medical treatment is based on the appropriately made diagnosis and the cooperation of both pediatric anesthetist and ENT team in the best equipped children’s hospital.

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