Laryngeal stenosis occurs for several reasons. Mostly young children suffer from it. Parents who first encounter this manifestation of the disease fall into a stupor. What to do to help the child, and what are the symptoms and treatment of laryngeal stenosis? Let's try to figure it out.
What are laryngeal stenosis?
Many organs in the body are made up of muscles. The larynx also has such a structure. Under certain conditions, muscles can swell and contract. Laryngeal stenosis arises precisely in this way.
Parents may come across another name for this condition - false croup. In medicine, there is another concept. It is associated only with a dangerous infectious disease - diphtheria. Against its background, true croup develops.
You can protect yourself from diphtheria only with the help of vaccination. According to statistics, even if detected on time, this disease in 50% gives a fatal outcome.
Degrees
Laryngeal stenosis varies in different levels of difficulty. Depending on the severity of the patient's condition, certain methods of first aid and further treatment are used.
- The first degree may not be felt by a person, the muscles are just beginning to swell. A dry cough appears, but it is not yet intrusive.
- The second is already more difficult. A barking painful cough develops. It becomes difficult for the patient to take a breath. There is a feeling of fear.
- The third degree refers to a state of moderate severity. In this case, emergency medical care is urgently needed. A person feels a catastrophic lack of air. The cough practically does not stop. Panic and tachycardia occur.
- The fourth degree is an extremely serious condition. The patient may lose consciousness. The face turns blue. Air practically does not enter the lungs. Most often, this condition requires assistance in the intensive care unit.
In order to prevent the development of a worsening of the condition, it is necessary for the patient to provide assistance in time and immediately call an ambulance team.
Causes
According to statistics, children up to 7-8 years old are most often prone to laryngeal stenosis. This is due to the anatomy of the larynx. At this age, it is still poorly developed and even with minor muscle edema, laryngeal stenosis occurs in children.
The older the child becomes, the wider the lumen and the risk of suffocation disappears. There are several reasons for the development of this condition. The main are two.
The infectious pathogen causes not only the manifestations of acute respiratory viral infections, but also affects a variety of organs. Often viruses settle on the walls of the larynx. Here they multiply and cause intoxication of the body by the release of harmful substances into the blood.
For this reason, stenosis of the larynx often occurs. Its degree will depend on the age of the patient and the specific strain of the virus. The more active the pathogen, the faster choking will develop.
The second reason is considered an allergic reaction. Against the background of the stimulus entering the body, stenosis of the larynx occurs.
Symptoms
There are several manifestations that directly indicate the development of suffocation. The symptoms of laryngeal stenosis are difficult to confuse with the manifestations of another disease:
- "barking", persistent cough;
- cyanosis of the nasolabial triangle;
- difficulty breathing;
- panic and fear;
- tachycardia;
- loss of consciousness (in severe cases).
Often during an attack of suffocation, the patient sits down and rests his hands on an object. He leans forward and tries to actively capture the air.
Symptoms may appear gradually, especially if the cause of the spasm is an infectious agent. It is only with an allergic reaction that suffocation develops very quickly and with increasing severity.
Another major symptom of laryngeal stenosis in children is hoarseness. This fact should especially alert parents.
Does stenosis occur in adults?
Unfortunately, the answer is yes. Very rarely, suffocation occurs in adults with an infectious disease. An exception can only be diphtheria. The main reason for the development of laryngeal stenosis in adults is an allergic reaction.
It can occur against the background of taking medications, food, smells and communicating with animals. Allergy sufferers should make every effort not to encounter what provokes seizures.
Otherwise, a spasm can occur at any moment and develop rapidly, up to complete suffocation. When a hoarseness occurs in adults with ARVI, most often this symptom does not lead to suffocation, because the lumen in the larynx is large enough, and muscle edema is not so significant.
First aid
If a child suffocates, then parents should first reassure him. Because against the background of stress, edema increases and the baby has practically nothing to breathe.
It is necessary for the patient to provide a good flow of fresh air. To do this, open the window in the room. If the attack occurred in the warm season, you can go to the balcony.
Before the ambulance arrives, turn on the hot water in the bathroom and close the door tightly there. Thus, steam will accumulate in the room. Then the patient needs to breathe this moist air. In no case should the patient be placed in water! He should only sit for 10-15 minutes near her.
Medical preparations
If the house has a compressor inhaler, then you can carry out the procedure using hormonal drugs. Most often, Pulmicort or Flexotide in nebulas is used for these purposes.
For inhalation, the contents of the ampoule must be diluted in a ratio of 1: 1 with saline. The dosage should be indicated by the doctor. Inhalation is carried out until the drug is completely vaporized from the reservoir.
If there is no such device in the house, then you can drink any antihistamine. It will help relieve swelling from the larynx. And also a little relieve spasm "No-spa".
If the situation becomes critical and the patient's condition rapidly deteriorates, then you can use hormonal drugs in injection ampoules.
This method is used only as a last resort. Better to wait for an ambulance doctor. He will be able to more realistically assess the situation.
Treatment of laryngeal stenosis
If first aid is provided and the patient becomes better, then you can proceed to the main treatment. He must be prescribed by a therapist or pediatrician.
If the cause of stenosis of the larynx is an infectious disease, then all forces must be directed to combat it. The first rule that must be strictly followed is to drink a lot of liquid.
It will help remove toxins from the body that throw viruses into the bloodstream. In hospitals, droppers with Reosorbilact and saline are placed for this purpose.
At home, it will be enough to drink a lot of warm liquid. It may not be too strong tea, dried fruit compote. Doctors also advise diluting Regidron in water and drinking it at least 1 liter (adult) during the day.
If the causative agent of the disease is of a viral nature, then the use of antibiotics is extremely undesirable. So you can only worsen the condition of the patient and achieve the development of complications.
What else causes a spasm?
If the cause is an allergic irritant and symptoms of laryngeal stenosis occur, then treatment should be aimed at reducing edema. In this case, only an injection with a hormonal drug will help.
Allergy sufferers should always have Dexamethasone or Prednisone. These medicines are used for first aid in stenosis of the larynx.
The victim must be urgently removed from the allergen. If pollen or any smell on the street affected him so much, the patient needs to be transferred to the room.
In the case of an insect bite, it is necessary to quickly remove the sting and apply a tourniquet above the wound so that the poison does not spread further into the blood.
Laryngitis
This disease is the main cause of laryngeal stenosis in young children. The most common causative agent is a viral infection. Therefore, the disease in the normal course lasts 7 days.
Laryngitis can occur in different ways. Often it begins with an acute period. Suddenly, the body temperature rises to 38-39 o C. The patient becomes lethargic, the general condition worsens.
Gradually, a dry cough begins to develop, which eventually becomes obsessive. Sputum practically does not depart. The voice begins to hoarse. It becomes difficult to talk.
During this period, it is necessary to refrain from physical exertion and spend more time in bed. You also need to save your voice and talk less. Thus, the ligaments will not strain and swell less.
It’s hard to persuade a child not to chat and scream. Then you can try to arrange games several times a day, for example, whoever speaks first will lose. Thus, although for a short time, the baby’s ligaments will rest.
How to treat?
At the beginning of the disease, you need to drink any warm liquid as much as possible. So you can achieve a quick liquefaction of sputum and the transition of cough into productive. If the house has a compressor inhaler, then you can do inhalation with normal saline up to 3-5 times a day.
This will help soften the throat and sputum will begin to recede. Parents should be careful about the symptoms of laryngeal stenosis in children. The most dangerous time is considered to be from two to five in the morning.
This is due to the fact that at this time the adrenal glands stop producing the hormone, which is responsible for the removal of edema and the fight against allergic reactions.
If already in the evening the baby showed a dry cough and a hoarse voice, then there is a high probability of an attack of suffocation at night. So, you need to prepare for it.
A child must be given any antihistamine drug at night. He will sleep in a half-sitting position (put a few pillows). In the room it is necessary to reduce the temperature to 18 o C, and raise the humidity to 65-70%.
In the house where the children grow, there should always be a first-aid kit with the necessary set of medications. One of them is Rectodelt candles. This is a hormonal drug, it is used only in extreme cases.
Its use is possible only once a day. This medication is an ambulance medication. In its composition - the same active substance as in dexamethasone ampoules.
Candles will be a great option for parents who do not know how to give injections. If the initial first aid measures do not help and the child's condition worsens, it is urgent to call an ambulance team.
Most often, the likelihood of stenosis with ARVI completely disappears a few days after the onset of the disease. When a cough becomes productive, the risk of suffocation is markedly reduced.