Stridor in children: causes and treatment For most parents, the birth of a child is not only a great happiness, but also a huge responsibility. That's why young mothers try to pass the examination as often as possible and visit their doctor-gynecologist. To hand over analyzes and to be surveyed it is necessary to know, that the fetus develops normally, without any deviations or rejections. However, there are cases when pathology can not be noticed before the birth of the baby, and it manifests itself immediately after childbirth. These include the stridor.


General concepts and causes of

Stridor is a congenital anomaly of the respiratory system( trachea, larynx), which is accompanied by a noisy little wheezing of the baby. In principle, if the disease is found out after the birth of a child, it is not necessary to panic. The fact is that about 60% of newborns suffer to varying degrees. However, this pathology does not interfere with the child, but disappears in the course of its development. Another issue is a much more dangerous congenital stridor, which has four stages of severity:

  1. treatment is not required, the disease passes almost immediately after the onset( birth of the baby);
  2. for the elimination of the disease examination is necessary;
  3. is characterized by very strong noises, when the baby takes a breath, requires timely treatment;
  4. if you do not turn to the doctors in time, a lethal outcome is possible.

To date, there are three main types of pathology. The first is an expiratory stridor, it usually appears on the exhalation. Its development is due to the fact that just below the vocal cords an obstruction is formed. The second type of stridor is inspiratory, on the contrary, it develops during the period when the child inhales the ambient air. In this case, the lesion is located in the region of the upper larynx, which in turn leads to the appearance of characteristic noises, with very low frequencies. Finally, biphasic stridor is determined when, at a level slightly below the vocal folds, the child has an obstruction in the airway. For this type of stridor, the child, as a rule, has a loud, whistling breath that sounds high.

Newborns have very soft airway cartilage, and with stridor they become even softer. When inhaled, they are connected to each other and there are certain vibrations due to the negative pressure formed at this moment in the bronchi. In ordinary cases, the pharynx widens over time, the cartilage becomes compacted and hardens and the child gets rid of pathology. It is necessary to understand the causes of the congenital stridor.

One of them - increased excitability on the neuro-reflex level, that is, the pathology reveals itself at a time when the baby is showing great anxiety. In this case, it is necessary to take the child to a specialist neurologist. Some children suffer from stridor from year to year and a half. There is a disease due to the weakness of muscle tissue in the region of the vocal cicle after birth. And, not a single medical employee is able to help you - you just have to wait and the pathology will recede.

Another cause of the development of this ailment is the growth of the cyst of the larynx directly into the respiratory tract. This often occurs in infants with intubation. If the cyst is small, the child will only occasionally croak.

Symptoms of pathology and its diagnosis

If stridor in a newborn has a place to be, its symptoms manifest almost immediately after the baby is born. Severe forms of the disease are detected after a few hours - the child is noisy and often breathes, there is an increase in wheezing. In this case, it is necessary to take emergency measures and conduct effective treatment. During an exacerbation of attacks of the stridor it is necessary to urgently call an ambulance, or else asphyxia can smoothly turn into acute respiratory failure.

To identify the causes of such a disease in newborns, specialists conduct diagnostics. In this case, the best option is if the parents show their child to several professional doctors: a pediatrician, a neurologist - a therapist, a gastroenterologist, an otolaryngologist, and finally a pulmonologist. During the examination, specialists assess the child as follows: his general condition, the frequency of breathing, the frequency of contraction of the heart muscle, the overall coloration of the outer skin of the skin. In addition, a professional should find out one important point - whether the respiratory act involved auxiliary muscle tissue. Inspection of the larynx is performed with the help of a microlaringoscopy.

During the diagnosis of the stridor, an additional X-ray examination may be necessary. They take pictures of soft ear tissue and chest, larynx. In addition, ultrasound of the larynx and MRI, computed tomography, as well as bronchoscopy and tracheobronchoscopy should be done.

Treatment. Importance of prevention of stridor

If the child has a sharply developing stridor, it is necessary to call an emergency ambulance, whose employees are obliged to hospitalize the baby. In the hospital, he is removed from his clothes, which restricts his breathing, which provides the baby with fresh air. In order to distract the baby and stop hysterics, specialists use distracting procedures. For example, they can put mustard plasters on the back of the shins or arrange a warm bath for about 10 minutes with a water temperature of no more than 38 degrees Celsius. If hysterics has not passed, resort to the use of ammonia. You can also hook the patient's tongue and pull it lightly with your fingers. After the so-called "respiratory panic" was removed, professional doctors resort to the use of medications.

In case the pathology does not take place in severe form, but periodically the child shows insignificant seizures, the doctors prescribe special inhalations supplemented with hormonal preparations, and in some cases with adrenaline preparations. Their effect is that they expand the patient's airways. With such treatment, it is mandatory to take into account the state of health of the child. In cases of acute attacks, when the baby begins to suffocate and the airways do not expand, intubation is made, that is, a special tube is inserted into the larynx( trachea) to provide the child with a normal breathing process.

As a rule, such a malaise lasts a rather short period - from 6 months to 1.5 years. Sometimes it happens that the disease accompanies the child up to 3 years. For prevention, it is important that the baby fully fed. It must be regularly taken to the treating doctor. Parents should, as carefully as possible, to ensure that their child does not catch cold and does not supercool. During the epidemic of viral as well as infectious diseases, the baby should be given antiviral drugs prescribed by a specialist. Finally, the child should not stay at home - let more often walk outdoors. In addition, it must be accustomed to the strict observance of the most basic rules of personal hygiene.